DARLINGTON — An Argyle woman recently changed her plea from not guilty to guilty in a case involving a head-on crash which killed a 72-year-old man.

Mary E. Bernet, 36, entered her guilty plea in Lafayette County Circuit Court on Nov. 8.

The Class D felony conviction carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and 10 years on extended supervision. However, the district attorney’s office and Bernet’s attorney Guy Taylor are submitting a jointly recommended agreement which calls for a five-year prison sentence and three years of extended supervision as part of a plea agreement. 

Bernet’s formal sentencing was originally set for Jan. 23 after a required pre-sentence investigation was to be completed, but she requested her bond be revoked to begin the sentence immediately and was taken into custody.

The case stems from a traffic crash on Wisconsin 78, Town of Argyle, on Aug. 26, 2017. Patrick B. Calhoun, 72, rural Dodgeville, died at the scene.

Court records indicate Bernet had a blood-alcohol content of 0.14 percent after the crash, nearly twice the legal limit for driving in Wisconsin. Police reported finding Keystone beer in the road and more beer in Bernet’s 2007 Dodge Dakota pickup truck, including a still-cold 12-pack of 16 ounce cans with eight left in the pack.

An investigation found Bernet crossed the centerline at about 1:30 p.m. and hit the driver’s side of an oncoming 2017 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. Her pickup truck spun around and ended up in the southbound lane, while the Chevy spun into the ditch and struck an embankment before coming to rest on its passenger side.

Calhoun, the driver of the Chevy pickup truck, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lafayette County Coroner’s Office. Bernet and her passenger and husband, Aaron C. Bernet, 39, also of Argyle, were taken by ambulance to a hospital.

According to court records, Aaron Bernet told police he and his wife had been drinking at their house before the accident. He said he’d had about five or six beers, while she told police she’d had two or three beers. He was cited for having open intoxicants in the vehicle.

State court records show no prior criminal history or OWI convictions for Mary Bernet in Wisconsin.