A La Salle woman faces up to 18 months in prison when she stands for sentencing Nov. 5 for leaving the scene of a 2023 crash that injured an elderly motorist.

Lauren N. Finnell, 33, appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court and entered a blind plea to leaving the scene of an accident with injury, a Class 4 felony carrying up to three years in prison.

In exchange for her plea, La Salle County prosecutors agreed to recommend no more than 1½ years. Finnell will have an opportunity to address Circuit Judge Michelle A. Vescogni at a sentencing hearing set for Nov. 5.

Finnell was charged June 3, 2024, after a yearlong investigation into the crash. Witnesses had observed a vehicle traveling “at a very high rate of speed,” according to police reports, and, after the collision, a “female suspect [exited] the car and [fled] the scene of the accident via foot.”