MOULTRIE COUNTY — A 37-year-old Mattoon woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in connection to a February crash in Moultrie County that involved a bus carrying Teutopolis basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches.

Scarlett D. McKinzie entered an open plea in exchange for two other counts of aggravated DUI being dropped, along with two Class 4 felonies for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and four traffic offenses: failure to reduce speed, failure to obey a stop sign, illegal transportation of alcohol, and operating an uninsured vehicle.

McKinzie is possibly facing between 1 and 3 years in the Illinois Department of Correction, with mandatory supervised release for a year, or possibly up to 30 months probation.

According to a sheriff’s investigation, McKinzie was at a stop sign, then “surged forward” and struck the school bus behind the driver’s seat. The turning bus continued forward, with the rear wheel passing over the hood of McKinzie’s van.

Of the 31 students and three coaches in the bus, which wound up on its side, five students were taken to an area hospital with minor lacerations and scrapes.

Deputies discovered a partially empty bottle of Nikolai vodka, an empty bottle of Southern Comfort whiskey and two pill bottles in McKinzie’s van after the crash.

Her blood alcohol content was .250 at the time of the crash, which exceeds the .08 legal limit to drive in Illinois. She also tested for positive for cocaine, the sergeant said.

The Teutopolis team missed its game that night, but beat Marshall 73 to 35 the next night.