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WILKES-BARRE — A Larksville woman serving three to 23 months in county prison for running over her boyfriend is requesting a judge modify her sentence.
A motion filed Thursday in Luzerne County Court says Melinda Shoppel’s incarceration places a severe hardship on her family because she is not home to care for her five children. Neither her mother nor the children’s father can care for the children on such short notice, the motion says.
Shoppel in the document asks for a daily furlough in order to be home for them.
Shoppel, 34, pleaded guilty in January before Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough to two counts of accidents involving personal injury and summary counts of failing to stop and render aid and driving with a suspended license.
Authorities said Shoppel struck William Goulstone, 56, after they argued inside Bottle Caps tavern in Plymouth. Goulstone is co-owner of the tavern.
Goulstone was trapped under Shoppel’s vehicle, which was lifted off him by his brother Peter Goulstone and other patrons in the tavern. Goulstone suffered severe injuries including a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and kidney damage, authorities said.