Driver in Magnus White crash seeks early prison release
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Yeva Smilianska at Boulder County Courthouse on March 31. Photo: Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
The driver sentenced to four years in prison for killing 17-year-old cycling star Magnus White in a 2023 Boulder County crash has applied for early release less than six months later.
Why it matters: Prosecutors and White's family said the request exposes a loophole in Colorado's justice system, letting offenders dodge accountability and potentially re-traumatizing victims and their families.
Driving the news: Yeva Smilianska, 25, has applied for release into community corrections, sometimes known as a halfway house, according to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office.
- Boulder District Judge Dea Lindsey sentenced Smilianska in June to four years in state prison for vehicular homicide, and she is now serving her term at La Vista Correctional Facility.
- Smilianska is not eligible for parole until March 2027, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections
Yes, but: Colorado law allows inmates convicted of certain offenses to be placed in community corrections 16 months before parole eligibility.
- The only time requirement is that the defendant will have served at least three months of their sentence.
Zoom in: Boulder County DA Michael Dougherty told Axios Boulder Smilianska must be approved by the community corrections board and his office "will strongly oppose her release."
- Defense attorneys could not be reached for comment.
What they're saying: White's family told Axios Boulder they were trying to find some semblance of normalcy when they received the letter informing them of Smilianska's request.
- "It was going to be our first Christmas (since Magnus' death) we didn't have the criminal case hanging over us," his father, Michael, said. "We were starting to look to the future."
- Magnus' mother, Jill, said the loophole undermines the initial ruling.
Between the lines: If Smilianska is denied for community corrections, she can reapply in six months.
- The community corrections process is also separate from the parole hearing process, so if Smilianska is not released, she will have parole hearings starting in a year.
- "It's just constant retrauma," Michael White said. "It just seems like it is never going to end."
The big picture: Dougherty said Colorado can't keep treating the two processes as separate, and he urged the state to bring more clarity and consistency to sentencing.
- "In essence, it creates a sentence reconsideration board that can reverse or reduce a judge's decision," he told Axios.
- Michael White said the law sends the message "that essentially, it's OK to kill somebody in your vehicle."
What's next: Dougherty told Axios Boulder he expects hearings to be set sometime in January.
- For Jill White, it means having to once again revisit the worst day of her life: "I'm forever caught in that nightmare."