Woman gets 28 years for tow truck driver's hit-and-run death

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Staring at 30 years in prison, defendant Allison Huffman decided to do something she had never done before: Show remorse and apologize to the victim’s family.

"I'm really sorry, I hope you can find peace," she said.

Huffman had pleaded guilty to a 2016 hit-and-run crash that killed tow truck driver Roger Perez-Borotto on the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Instead of stopping to help,  prosecutors say Huffman  dumped her car at nearby hotel and then took a taxi to Walgreens for a snack. But she didn't stop there She then she headed to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, where she gambled for hours.

The front-end damage of her car was hard to miss, but she told cops early on it was all a blur. Later, while sitting in a police car, she remembered more, explained Hillsborough prosecutor Aaron Hubbard. "She stated she knew she had hit someone or something and she was scared and failed to stop or call emergency personnel.”

At her sentencing Huffman's father David blamed himself and her bipolar behavior. "We did notice during her teenage years pretty wild mood swings. We didn't really understand them or why.”

But Zari Perez, the sister of Rogelio Perez-Borotto, blames no one else but Allison Huffman. I do have mercy on her but it is hard to forgive someone who rips a loved one away from you.”

And with that, the judge sentenced Huffman to 28 years in prison, nearly the maximum sentence of 30 years.