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Tammy "Sunny" Sytch was extradited this morning from the Monmouth County Correctional Facility in New Jersey by authorities from the State of Pennsylvania. She will be remanded to the Carbon County Correctional Facility.
Sytch, 45-years old had been arrested and charged with DUI twice this year in Jersey while on probation for several charges in Pennsylvania, including three separate 2015 DUI arrests. She failed to appear in court to answer either of the Jersey cases, leading to her arrest on 2/27 in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey. While she was being processed for multiple charges of Contempt - Disobedience/resistance, it was learned that Sytch was technically a fugitive from justice because a motion had been filed in August 2017 in Pennsylvania, requesting her February 2017 parole from the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania be revoked. A bench warrant for her arrest was issued in order to bring her in for a hearing over the issue, but since Sytch was not living in PA at the time, she could not be located to be served or taken into custody.
Sytch's Pennsylvania DUI charges in 2015 were a result of three separate incidents over that summer.
On 5/30/15, Sytch was stopped by Mahoning Township, PA police after being seen driving erratically into a Wal-Mart parking lot. A test showed a 0.25 percent Blood-Alcohol level.
On 6/1/15, Sytch was pulled over after her car crossed the solid center yellow line several times and then entered oncoming traffic on Interchange Road in Lehighton, PA. Sytch was unable to provide proof of insurance or a driver’s license and was identified via authorities checking records. Trooper Jonathan Lazarchick of the Pennsylvania State Police reported that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy and that she smelled like alcohol. There was an open bottle of Coors Light in the passenger side of the vehicle and another 11 unopened. The open cap was on the floor of her passenger's side. Sytch claimed she had been drinking the night before, was driving to pick up milk and eggs and when asked to get out of the vehicle, staggered, had problems with her balance and needed to lean on her car to maintain her balance. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.3 percent.
On 6/20/15, Sytch crashed her car into a ditch in Towamensing Township at 10:40 PM. and claimed to authorities responding that her GPS had told her to make a "sudden turn", leading to her turning too wide and ending up in the ditch. Sytch told authorities that she was unable to back the car back out. Cpl. Shawn Noonan of the Pennsylvania State Police observed the odor of alcohol and bloodshot eyes. He requested Sytch take a field sobriety test, but she claimed to be "in too much pain due to her recently blacking out and falling down the steps." She was placed under arrest for DUI and was given a breathalyzer test back at police barracks. The results of that test were 0.078 percent. Sytch would later claim on social media, in response to PWInsider.com's reporting of the case, that she was not arrested for DUI when she crashed her car because she had a "seizure."
Sytch plead guilty to DUI in all three cases as well as one count of driving without a license. The court dismissed the lesser charges in each case as part of her guilty plea.
Sytch stated in a July 2016 interview with Bill Apter that she filed the guilty plea because she was "blackout drunk" during what she termed the worse relapse of her life during that period. Sytch told Apter she legitimately could not remember anything from the arrests. Since she could not testify in court about what happened, and the police had video footage of her in her inebriated state, Sytch stated a decision was made to plead guilty as part of an agreement. In the interview with Apter, Sytch had praised Judge Joseph T. Matika for being so lenient with her and allowing her to do the time in rehab as opposed to potential jail time.
On 8/18/16, Judge Matika sentenced Sytch to 97 days in prison, only to then give her credit for 95 days in rehab. The final 60 days were paid for by World Wrestling Entertainment, which had reversed a previous stance that cut her off from assistance via their Wellness Policy after Sytch criticized the previous rehabs WWE had chosen to send her in a DVD interview. Sytch was also given two days' credit for two days spent in jail.
At the time, Sytch was also sentenced to five years of probation with a required bi-weekly alcohol testing as well as 125 hours of community service and fines of $2,100. She was released without spending a day in prison, but was warned by Judge Matika that if she got into trouble at any point during her five-year probation, there would be consequences.
Just 18 days into those five years, Sytch was arrested in Northampton County, PA. In that case, Sytch plead guilty to driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle, operating a vehicle without required financial responsibility (no insurance), displaying plate card in improper vehicle (license plates placed on a car to which they didn't belong), operating a vehicle without valid inspection, and driving without Evidence of an Emission Inspection, which is required in State of PA).
Sytch was also fined $1,496.45 as part of an agreement that saw Prosecutors drop the most severe charge against her, receiving stolen property. Prosecutors also opte to drop a charge of fraudulent use or removal of registered licensed plates.
On 9/12/16, Sytch was rushed from her home in Palmerton, PA to Palmerton Hospital. That day, she was charged with possession of alcohol as well as being under the influence of alcohol - both of which violated the zero tolerance of her probation.
On her Facebook page at the time, Sytch referred to her hospitalization as being related to her pancreas. In Sytch's autobiography A Star Shattered, which had been released earlier in 2016, Sytch wrote that past health issues involving pancreatitis were brought on by her heavy drinking and nearly led to her death in the past and that she had been warned by doctors that if she did not stop, it would lead to her death.
Sytch wrote on social media that she was released from the hospital on 9/20/16. Police sources in Palmerton, PA confirmed to PWInsider.com at the time that just three days later, 9/23/16, Sytch was brought back to Palmerton Hospital after authorities were called to her home. Court records cite that on that date, Sytch was again charged with being under influence of alcohol, a third violation of the zero tolerance policy of her probation.
Sytch was taken into custody, apparently from the hospital, and transported directly to the Carbon County Correctional Facility. It was less than six weeks after her five-year probation began.
Sytch was incarcerated for five months, becoming paroled in February 2017 after agreeing to once again attend a WWE-sponsored rehab. When Sytch was released, the court ordered her to directly report to an in-patient drug rehab in Hanover, PA, successfully complete the program and any aftercare recommendations. Sytch was also ordered to report to report to the Carbon County Probation Office upon completion of the program and to perform an additional 75 hours of community service, adding up to a total of 200 hours of service.
According to court records, Sytch was informed that she would have a "zero-tolerance" threshold for the possession, control and consumption of alcoholic beverages and/or non-prescribed medication and that she would have "zero-tolerance" for any missed urine screens without a legitimate excuse.
Sytch was also warned that a failure to adhere to the Judge's order would result in a petition to revoke her parole. On 8/22/17, the court filed a petition to revoke Sytch's parole just a little over six months. A bench warrant for Sytch's arrest was issued the following day.
Sytch's New Jersey arrests earlier this year were for DUI on 1/23 at 8:53 PM and then a 2/2 incident where Sytch was in a car accident at 8:52 AM, alleging fleeing the scene of the accident. She was later charged with DUI and Leaving the Scene of an Accident later by New Jersey police.
Having been return to Pennsylvania, Sytch will once again be brought before Judge Matika. Based on PA court records, Sytch could again be facing up to five years imprisonment plus whatever additional penalties - and possibly even additional charges that the court may choose to bring against her. She would be at the complete mercy of the Judge, based on what we have been told.
Sytch has been through several personal and legal issues over the last decade, including a period in 2012 and 2013 where she was arrested arrested five times over the span of a month for violating an order of protection taken out by a former boyfriend in Connecticut on three separate occasions. Sytch was also charged with disorderly conduct, third degree burglary, and three counts of violating a protective order. In that case, Sytch served 114 days in jail before being released.
Amazingly, Sytch had been making independent bookings and signing appearances all over the United States in recent months prior to being incarcerated on 2/27, including a signing in Philadelphia, PA (the same State there was a bench warrant issued for her) in January.
Sytch was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 and is considered the original "WWE Diva." She first broke into the business in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the early 1990s before being signed to WWF as an announcer and later a manager. She left WWF in 1999 to work for the original ECW and had a run in World Championship Wrestling as well. At one point, Sytch was the hottest female talent in professional wrestling.
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