PRESTON, Minn. (Court TV) — A woman who pleaded guilty to pretending to be her twin to take the fall for a deadly crash was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Monday.
(L) Samantha Jo Petersen booking photo from prior Feb. 2021 arrest. (R) Sarah Beth Petersen booking photo from prior Sept. 2016 arrest. (Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office)
Two children were killed and two others were injured on Sept. 25, 2023, when a silver SUV crashed into an Amish buggy pulled by a horse in rural Minnesota. At the time of the crash, Sarah Beth Petersen told officers at the scene that she had been behind the wheel. An investigation revealed that she was covering for her twin sister, Samantha Jo Petersen, who is accused of being under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the crash.
Investigators said that Sarah tried to take the blame for the crash because Samantha had cared for Sarah’s children while Sarah was in prison. Sarah was previously convicted on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on Jan. 10, 2022, and was on parole at the time of the crash.
Sarah addressed the court at her sentencing on Monday, offering an apology to the victims and the Court. “I deeply regret the pain my actions caused the Miller family and the entire Amish community,” She said through tears. “No words I say can possibly make their hearts hurt any less.” She confirmed that she lied in an effort to protect her sister: “My first instinct was to try to shield her from any harm.”
Sarah initially faced 16 charges but pleaded guilty to two amended counts of taking responsibility for criminal acts of another. The terms of the plea agreement spelled out a stayed sentence of 14 months for one count and a maximum sentence of 19.5 months in prison on the second, but the state agreed to recommend a downward departure and no more than six months in local jail. In a filing on Monday, prosecutors asked for a four-year stay of the presumptive sentence of 19.5 months, but asked that Sarah be required to spend six months in the Fillmore County jail. Handing down the sentence in accordance with the plea agreement, Judge Jeremy Clinefelter described Sarah as “particularly amenable to probation” and commended her for demonstrating accountability and remorse.
Sarah Beth Petersen addresses the Court during her sentencing on March 31, 2025. (Court TV/Pool)
But Judge Clinefelter pointed to Sarah’s history of convictions of lying to police and pretending to be her sister as the reason why she would have to serve some time in jail. “You’re not a risk to public safety; this was not your conduct that caused the tragic events of that day,” he said, addressing Sarah. “You and your sister have apparently been doing this, at least in your instance, for some time. That should have ended in grade school: fooling the teachers.” Though prosecutors wanted Sarah taken into custody immediately, she was given until April 23 to report to jail to serve her sentence.
Samantha is due in court on June 9 for a plea hearing in her case, where she is facing 21 charges, including several charges of criminal vehicular homicide.
