District Attorney Dan Dow announced today that Gianna Catherine Brencola (DOB 10-15-1999) of Los Osos entered a plea of guilty to felony driving while under the influence of alcohol. Brencola faces up to six years in state prison based on her guilty plea.
The incident occurred on Halloween evening, October 31, 2021, in Morro Bay. At a preliminary hearing the court heard evidence that Brencola struck several parked cars while driving with a blood alcohol level exceeding .30 percent, more than three times the legal limit for driving which is .08 percent.
In a prior alcohol-related driving death occurring on August 29, 2017, Brencola struck and killed Cal Poly student Kennedy Love who was riding his bicycle on Foothill Boulevard in San Luis Obispo. Brencola was convicted of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit and run resulting in death, both felonies. She faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison. She received a seven-year sentence but on December 18, 2019, was released early by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation based on her participation in a community re-entry program while housed in prison.
For her 2021 case, Brencola is scheduled to be sentenced on January 30, 2023, in Department 8 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court where she faces a potential six years in prison. The driving while under the influence charge carries a maximum sentence of three years, which could be doubled due to her prior conviction for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated which is a “strike” under California’s Three Strikes sentencing law.
The case was investigated by the Morro Bay Police Department and is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Lindsey Bittner.
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