A Sanpete County woman whose toddler son was killed in a crash earlier this year has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on a drug charge.

Brandi Cox Roberts, 35, was driving on U.S. 89 near Manti when her van hit a deer, police said. Her 2-year-old son, Christian Roberts, was sitting on a 13-year-old child's lap in the passenger seat and was killed when the van's air bag deployed. The teen suffered minor injuries.

"The damage to the vehicle is minimal," Sanpete County Attorney Brody Keisel said earlier this year. "If [Christian] had been properly placed and secured in the car, he would be alive, no question."

Roberts, of Ephraim, tested positive for drugs following the crash.

She was sentenced Wednesday in 6th District Court to one to 15 years in prison on a felony count of possession of a controlled substance and to a year behind bars for a misdemeanor count of negligent homicide.

Robert's defense attorney asked Judge Marvin Bagley to sentence the woman to jail instead so she could be placed in a treatment program.

"What she needs the most is in-patient treatment and counseling to deal with losing a child," defense attorney Stephen R. Allred said. "The worst thing is she carries around the guilt of having basically caused the death of her child. ... Not a day goes by that she doesn't think about that."

afalk@sltrib.com