Linda Diaz, the former lieutenant governor of Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico, is facing a wrongful death lawsuit for a hit and run death on the reservation.

Diaz was found guilty in federal court of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. She struck and killed 31-year-old Phillip Espinoza along a highway on the reservation on April 4, 2009.

Diaz has appealed and has not yet been sentenced for the crime. But Espinoza's parents have filed a civil lawsuit in state court that seeks unspecified damages for his death.

"She did (make) a mistake," Esequiel Espinoza, Phillip's father, told The Santa Fe New Mexican. "It was an accident. If she could go back, she would do something different. ... (I only wish) that she would apologize for what she did."

Diaz faces up to three years in prison.

Get the Story:
Parents seek damages in hit-and-run death (The Santa Fe New Mexican 10/15)

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