Teen motorist convicted for killing Tonga royalty

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A teenage motorist convicted of causing a freeway collision that killed two members of Tonga's royal family and their driver was sentenced to two years in county jail on Friday.

Edith Delgado, now 19, broke into tears in the packed courtroom when San Mateo County Judge John W. Runde read the sentence. She had faced a maximum of three years after being convicted in June of misdemeanor manslaughter and acquitted of more serious felony charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Delgado was racing another driver on July 5, 2006, when she sideswiped a Ford Explorer on a highway about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

The Explorer flipped and rolled over several times, killing Prince Tu'ipelehake, 55; his wife, Princess Kaimana Aleamotu'a Tuku'aho, 46; and their driver, Vinisia Hefa, 36, of East Palo Alto.

Delgado, of Redwood City, will receive credit for the year she already spent in county jail as well as for her good behavior as an inmate. She will likely spend another four to six months in jail, prosecutors said.