The son of an Orleans Parish judge will spend a year in prison in connection with a 2003 driving incident that left a female passenger dead.

WWL-TV

The defense and prosecution reached a plea agreement that will have Pascal Marullo serve six months on the charge of vehicular negligent injury and six months on a later and separate charge of a concealed weapons violation.

Marullo, the son of Orleans Judge Frank Marullo, was behind the wheel of a car in December 2003, and a police report said his alcohol level was above the legal limit when his car was involved in a crash that killed a passenger, Lisa Broussard.

The case had been dragging on for three years prior to Monday’s agreement.

On the stand, Marullo apologized for the incident.

“Nothing I can say will ever bring back your daughter,” said Marullo from the stand. “I hope that one day you can forgive me.”

The victim’s sister said she was just happy that Marullo would serve some time.

“We would all like him to be in jail for a lot longer than that,” said Robin Broussard. “But it’s the best we can do given the situation.”

Marullo’s attorney Frank DeSalvo said the defense gained some and gave some in the ultimate agreement, but he maintained that his client never had any malice in mind.

“It was an accident,” he said. “Nobody’s ever said it was anything other than an accident.”

As part of the deal, Marullo will serve his sentence in St. Bernard Parish because the defense was concerned that he might be targeted in an Orleans jail where his father may have sentenced some of the inmates.