Woman granted early release in Bazetta fatal crash

WARREN – A woman who was sentenced in March to four years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed a Cortland man and seriously injured her nearly two years ago was granted early release Monday by Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Westcott.

Britni Ulam, 37, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle under the influence and could have gotten up to five years in prison. A sentencing memorandum by Ulam’s attorney, Robert Shaker, submitted to Westcott stated that Ulam was found unconscious on the road after the Nov. 3, 2024, crash and was treated for a fractured neck, back, ribs, pelvis, scapula and surgically reconstructed left foot and collapsed lung. She was hospitalized from Nov. 3 to Nov. 27, 2024, and was in a wheelchair until February of 2025, the memorandum stated at the time.

According to a crash report by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ulam, who had addresses in Warren and Niles, was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.339, which is more than four times the legal limit to drive of 0.08. Also found in her blood were benzodiazepines and opiates, according to the crash report.

Killed in the crash was Frank Walter, 31, of Cortland, who was a friend and coworker of Ulam, according to court testimony.

Walter’s brother, Eric, told Ulam at her March sentencing hearing that he experienced substance abuse himself, prison and now recovery and got better when he engaged in programming and found productive things to do with his life. He said at the time he believes Ulam is a “good person” and hoped she would get a long probation with substance abuse treatment.

“I want to see you have a future, that my brother did not pass away for nothing. I want to see you have a life and live it out for him,” Eric Walter said at the sentencing hearing.

Ulam apologized to him and other family members at the hearing, saying she would have traded places with Walter if she could.

At Monday’s hearing for early release consideration, Westcott said that to continue to confine Ulam will not serve any purpose in her rehabilitation and instead sentenced her to five years of probation and continued the three-year mandatory driver's license suspension with no driving privileges. The judge also assigned Ulam to be a part of her women's therapeutic docket program and warned her that if she violates any terms of her probation, she could be facing the prospect of returning to prison to serve the remainder of her four-year term.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Burnett said he opposed the release, saying the action demeans the seriousness of the offense and doesn't adequately punish the defendant. In both a prehearing conference with Ulam and on the record during the public hearing, Walter's mother vigorously opposed the judge's action.

“If you do this then I think you are making a terrible mistake. (Only serving) six months is a travesty. This (early release) may cause her to relapse. This doesn't sit well with any of us (family members),” she said.

DETAILS OF THE CRASH

The crash that killed Walter happened at 1:24 a.m. Nov. 3, 2024, as Ulam drove a 2006 Nissan Exterra SUV north on state Route 46 at a high rate of speed and failed to navigate a curve near the Tamer Win golf course driving range, according to a crash report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The vehicle drove off the right side of the road, struck a ditch, then struck a culvert and overturned several times, ejecting Ulam and Walter, who were not wearing seatbelts.

The SUV also went off the left side of the road and went down an embankment, the report states. As emergency responders were en route, a southbound 2014 Nissan Altima driven by a Niles woman struck Walter, who was lying in the road, resulting in his death.

Crash investigators determined that alcohol and excessive speed were contributing factors in the initial crash. Ulam was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for serious injuries.