No prison for MN woman who cooked up twin-swapping scheme tied to deadly Amish buggy crash

A 37-year-old woman was sentenced to three months in jail Monday for her role in an identity-swapping scheme with her twin sister to deceive law enforcement about who was actually driving an SUV that hit an Amish buggy in southeastern Minnesota, killing two of the four children aboard.

Along with the jail time, Sarah Beth Petersen of Kellogg, Minn., was put on supervised probation for four years. She pleaded guilty in Fillmore County District Court to two counts of criminal vehicular operation stemming from the crash shortly before 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2023, along southbound County Road 1.

The collision southeast of Stewartville killed Wilma Miller, 7, and Irma Miller, 11. Surviving their injuries were siblings Allan Miller, age 9 at the time, and Rose Miller, who was 13 then. The four children were riding to school, with Rose holding the reins, a family friend said.

The other twin, Samantha Jo Petersen of Wabasha, Minn., who was driving that day, remains charged with criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation, driving under the influence of an illicit drug and other lesser counts. She is due in court June 10 for a pretrial conference. Her trial is scheduled for July 14.

For Sarah Peterson, state guidelines called for a sentence of 19½ months, with two-thirds of that time in prison. However, the defense and the prosecution agreed to a downward departure and a maximum six-month jail sentence.

While the prosecution argued for the agreed-upon maximum, Judge Jeremy Clinefelter gave Sarah Petersen a 90-day term, with 60 of those served in jail and the balance on supervised release. She’s also eligible for work release.

Defense attorney Daniel McIntosh said his client read a statement in court during sentencing that expressed her “apologies and condolences” to the Millers, who were present in the courtroom.

“She still has such a heavy heart for the Millers’ loss,” McIntosh said.

A victim advocate read the sentiments of the Millers, which McIntosh described as “very appropriate for this type of case. They didn’t make a specific recommendation to the court” about what the sentence should be.

Sarah Petersen’s time in court might not yet be over in connection with this crash. McIntosh said she could be required to testify should her twin go on trial.

“She could be called as a witness,” he said.

According to the charges against both twins and related court documents:

The twins were at the scene when a deputy arrived. Sarah Petersen told him she was driving the silver SUV involved in the crash, which is registered to her twin. Parked close by was a black 2002 Toyota 4Runner, also registered to Samantha Petersen. While Sarah Petersen was left alone in a squad car, Samantha Petersen walked over and the two spoke.

A deputy’s pocket recorder captured Sarah Petersen saying, “I think one of the guys is onto me, but I don’t really care. ... There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us, so they can’t tell,” according to the charges.

Still at the scene, Sarah Petersen insisted to a deputy that she was the driver who hit the buggy.

Samantha Petersen left work at a Hy-Vee in Rochester shortly before 8 a.m. on the day of the crash in the silver SUV. Internet mapping measures the southbound route to the crash scene as roughly a 24-minute drive. The crash occurred at 8:25 a.m.

Hy-Vee staff told law enforcement that Samantha Petersen admitted on a work messaging platform that she had used methamphetamine and was high at the time of the collision. “The messages also indicate that [Samantha Petersen] was the driver,” a court filing disclosed.

A State Patrol investigation found that the silver SUV was traveling between 61 and 71 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone at the time of impact.

Samantha Petersen’s criminal history in the state includes two convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and one for giving false information to police.

A test of Samantha Petersen’s blood by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found methamphetamine, amphetamine and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the charges.

Sarah Petersen has no previous serious crimes on her record in Minnesota.