BRENTWOOD — Susan Foss began a state prison term on March 17 for running down a Derry police officer with her pickup truck last summer.
Foss, 43, of Derry, pleaded guilty to her third drunken driving conviction in Rockingham County Superior Court, along with one count of reckless conduct and two counts of drug possession.
In exchange for her guilty plea, Foss was given a one- to three-year prison term. Once her prison sentence is complete, she will serve 180 days in jail for the drunken driving charge.
And she will have another suspended prison sentence of one to three years hanging over her head when she is freed, which could lead her back to prison if she gets in trouble with the law.
Foss struck Derry police Officer Robert Moore on July 25, while he was directing traffic through a construction zone along Route 28 in Windham. After hitting Moore, Foss kept driving, only to be pulled over by police farther down Route 28.
Moore suffered a fractured hip, but has since returned to work.
Assistant County Attorney Karen Springer said Moore agreed to the terms of the plea deal, but declined to appear and speak at Monday's hearing.
Foss will lose her driver's license for at least five years.
If she does get her license back, she will be ordered to have an alcohol-ignition interlock installed in her car for two years, according to the agreement. The device requires drivers to pass a blood-alcohol test before they can start the car.
Judge Tina Nadeau ordered Foss to undergo a battery of drug and alcohol counseling while in prison.
Foss' eyes were bloodshot and had trouble answering officers' questions once she got out of her truck after striking Moore, according to Springer.
"She was asked for an ID and she produced a Sam's Club card," she said. "She denied consuming alcohol."
Foss later told police she was a battling a lifelong addiction to alcohol. It began when she started drinking at age 12, Foss told police.
Police later found four Clonazepam pills and five Oxycodone pills in her purse. Foss was unable to complete field sobriety tests and fell asleep in the back seat of a cruiser after she was arrested, according to police.
Monday's plea came after Foss lost a bid earlier this year to have her blood-alcohol tests tossed from her case. The deal was negotiated between Springer and defense lawyer Ted Lothstein.
Had she gone to trial, six witnesses could have testified they saw her 1990 Chevy pickup truck drift into the gravel on one side of the road, then strike Moore after she veered in the opposite direction to compensate, Springer said.
The reckless conduct and drug charges were felonies, each punishable by three and a half to seven years in state prison.
Police said her blood alcohol ranged tested at 0.20 and 0.16 during two tests taken from blood drawn at a local hospital. A person is considered to be driving drunk in New Hampshire if he or she has a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or above.
Foss has been in county jail since her arrest and has earned 207 days of credit toward her prison sentence.
