A tougher sentence was handed down for Richard Peterson of Colorado Springs, who injured Swift's parents in a 2003 DUI collision. The judge threw out a deal that would have offered him 52 months’ probation and instead sentenced him to a year in prison.

The accident happened on Sept. 26, 2003. According to reports, Peterson tried to pass several cars at once on U.S. Highway 400 and ran head-on into a car driven by Robert and Phyllis Aldrich, Swift’s parents. Phyllis Aldrich received a head injury and died a year and a half later after it worsened into progressive dementia. Robert Aldrich was badly injured and is still unable to get around easily due to the damage to his legs.

Peterson was 60 at the time of the accident. Peterson had seven instances of DUI.