Rebecca Grossman sentenced to 15 years to life for crash that resulted in the deaths of 2 boys

Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Foundation, was sentenced to 15 to life in prison on Monday for second-degree murder and other crimes related to a Westlake Village crash that killed two boys.

Prosecutors requested Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino to sentence Grossman, who turns 61 on Friday, to 34 years to life in state prison for the September 2020 deaths of 11- and 8-year-old Mark and Jacob Iskander. Grossman's white Mercedes-Benz SUV hit the boys and their family in a recognized crossing northwest of Los Angeles.

Grossman was found guilty of two charges of second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and hit-and-run driving on Feb. 23. After the jury's verdict, the judge ordered her to be arrested minutes later, denying her trial attorney's request to keep her free on $2 million bond until sentencing.

Defense attorneys sought probation or the shorter state jail term of slightly over 12 years for vehicular manslaughter.

Her new attorneys submitted a motion for a new trial last Monday, but the court denied it.

In a typed letter to the judge, Grossman wrote, "I am not a murderer, and I ask you to recognize that true fact. My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders suffer, and the pain I watch my family endure, are punishments that I already suffer and will for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering when you consider what more punishment to impose on me in this case."

"As God is my witness, I did not see anyone or anything in the road. I swear to you, I would have driven my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys."