A Canyon County judge has commuted the sentence of a woman convicted in a 2000 rural roadside attack.
Sarah Pearce was one of four people convicted in the violent attack on Linda Lebrane, a Washington woman who was traveling through Canyon County at the time.
In Canyon County District Court Thursday, Judge Juneal Kerrick commuted Pearce’s sentence to 231 days -- and imposed the remaining sentence to be served in the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction.
In January, 2004, Pearce was sentenced to fifteen years to life for her involvement in the Lebrane attack, said Canyon County spokesman Joe Decker. Pearce was 19 years old at the time.
In 2014, the court revisited Pearce’s sentence; with a judge crediting Pearce for eleven years and 215 days served, and released her from custody.
Pearce was booked into the Canyon County Jail earlier this week, transferred from the Ada County where she was serving time for a probation violation.
Pearce will soon be transferred to the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction to serve the remainder of her sentence.
“Once she serves the 231 days, the case will be officially closed,” Decker stated.
“I look at this as a victory for justice,” Lebrane said via telephone from her Washington home. “Sarah Pearce was never exonerated. For eighteen years, I’ve been looking for closure -– and this (Sarah Pearce) case has been the most difficult for me to live through."
Pearce co-defendants –- Jeremy Sanchez and brothers Kenneth and John Wurdemann –- were convicted in the attack.
Pearce 231-day sentence will start immediately, Decker said.
