In the aftermath of a fatal car wreck last fall, which left two dead and a family devastated, a Gorham mother was sentenced to prison Monday.

Candice Tucker was indicted in December on two counts of manslaughter and two counts of aggravated operating under the influence charges in the death of her teenage son and her boyfriend. Tucker pleaded guilty in Cumberland Court on Monday to the manslaughter charges in a plea deal. Tucker, wearing a red jail jumpsuit, on Monday was sentenced to four years in prison and with legs chained was escorted by a deputy sheriff from the courtroom.

The accident cut short her son’s promising football career, her young daughter cries herself to sleep every night, and the family’s home has been seized for back taxes.

On Oct. 19, Tucker, then 34, was driving the car that struck a tree off Route 302 in Bridgton, claiming the life of her son, Branden Denis, 16, who was a standout Gorham High School football player, and Tucker’s boyfriend, Eric S. Morey, 35, of Gorham.

Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Michael Madigan told the court Monday that both died from trauma. He recounted details of the accident and said the car had traveled 85 miles per hour.

The deaths stunned the Gorham community. Denis, son of David Denis and Tucker, was a junior at Gorham High School.

His grandfather, Keven Denis of Steep Falls, told Judge Nancy Mills on Monday that his grandson was a leader and an “awesome, awesome” individual and excelled in whatever he did. Keven Denis repeatedly choked up while speaking at the courtroom podium.

At school, Branden Denis was known by the nickname “Superman.” Keven Denis said his grandson wanted to play football at the University of Maine, and his jersey hangs in the weight room at Gorham High School.

“The family is having a rough time,” Keven Denis said. “The family was devastated over this.”

Tucker is also mother of a son, who is a Gorham High School sophomore, and a daughter, a third-grade student in Gorham. The Denis family has custody of Branden’s siblings.

Keven Denis told the court his granddaughter “cries herself’ to sleep. Before the court proceedings, Denis said Branden’s brother has permission to continue next year at Gorham High School, but his sister would be transferred to the Bonny Eagle school district.

In court Monday, criminal defense attorney Amanda Doherty represented Tucker. Doherty told the court that Tucker went to Spring Harbor, which is a psychiatric hospital in Westbrook, after her release from the hospital where she was taken for treatment after the crash.

“She’ll be punishing herself for the rest of her life,” Doherty told the court.

Tucker read a statement in court. Tucker had written it herself, Doherty said, and paraphrased it afterward for the American Journal: “Essentially it said that she knows that because of the mistakes she made, she is serving a life sentence because she will never be able to erase the memory of what happened and will have to deal with not having her son anymore.”

On Monday, Branden Denis’ paternal grandmother, Susan Denis, wore a button displaying her grandson’s photo, and her sister, Linda White, wore a maroon ribbon with Branden’s football jersey number 64. They sat in the front row in court.

Branden’s maternal grandmother, Gemma Long of Steep Falls, sat in the back row and cried during the proceedings. When Doherty called her to speak from the podium, Long read comments, telling of her daughter’s medical history. Long said that her daughter had once undergone brain surgery and later had suffered work-related hand injuries.

Long said her grandson, Branden, wanted to be with his mother on the day of the crash.

“I don’t hold my daughter responsible for what happened that day,” Long said.

The fateful day last fall changed everything for the family. The Gorham Town Council unanimously voted 7-0 on May 5 to write off outstanding taxes for a mobile home at 14 Chestnut Circle, which the Denis family bought and where Tucker lived.

The town seized the home through multiple foreclosed tax liens, according to Town Council minutes. The council agenda described the home as in poor condition, and authorized it be given to Friendly Village for disposal.

Under the court plea agreement, Tucker received 12 years in prison with all but four years suspended with four years probation. Mills meted out the punishment.

Probation requirements stipulated by Mills included no use of alcohol, drugs and prohibition of firearms.

Mills said that Tucker would have substance abuse help and said the object is rehabilitation.

“She is being punished severely” by the loss of these people, Mills said.

Mary Plummer, mother of Morey’s children, said in court that four years is not enough and asked the court not to suspend the eight years. Under Maine law, a manslaughter conviction could bring up to 30 years.

After the hearing, Plummer, visibly upset with the sentence, returned to the courtroom to talk with Madigan about reasoning behind the plea agreement.

Then, a brief verbal exchange between Plummer and Long ended when courtroom marshals immediately interceded.

Outside the courthouse, Doherty said the sentence was appropriate “given the facts and circumstances.”

Tucker was incarcerated at Cumberland County Jail in December and was still being held there on Wednesday, a jail official said. Tamara Getchell, spokeswoman for the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday that time already spent in jail does count against the four-year sentence Tucker received Monday.

Doherty said Tucker would serve the sentence in the Department of Corrections system, not county jail.

Outside Cumberland County Court Monday, Keven and Susan Denis of Steep Falls show a photo of their grandson, Branden Denis, one of two people who died when a car driven by his mother, Candice Tucker, smashed into a tree in Bridgton in October. Tucker has been sentenced to four years in prison. Staff photo by Robert Lowell