A former Episcopal Church Bishop has been sentenced to seven years in prison for killing a cyclist while intoxicated and failing to immediately return to the scene of the traffic accident.
Heather Cook, who was effectively defrocked this past Spring by Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, had been serving as Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland when the accident occurred. As the second-highest serving official in the diocese, Cook’s previous drunk driving arrest placed the Episcopal Church’s vetting procedures under scrutiny.
Journalist George Conger writes on Anglican Ink:
On 27 Oct 2015 a Baltimore City judge sentenced Cook (59) to 20 years imprisonment, but suspended 13 years of her sentence. Cook will serve five years imprisonment for manslaughter followed by a two year sentence for leaving the scene of the accident. She was sentenced to a further five years probation upon completion of her term.
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At her sentencing hearing the victim’s family and prosecutors asked for ten years imprisonment. Cook apologized to the Palermo family,expressing contrition for her actions. The judge told Cook that the seven year sentence would not be her final judgment. That would come when she would stand before her maker. Heather Cook was deposed from the ministry of the Episcopal Church in May. Her arrest prompted the national Episcopal Church to review its policies on alcohol, culminating in a series of recommendations set forth by the General Convention in June to address alcohol and substance abuse and the use and promotion of alcohol in church related events.
To read IRD’s coverage of Cook’s arrest and deposition from ministry in the Episcopal Church, click here.
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