A Luzerne County woman who intentionally drove her vehicle head-on into another vehicle to “test her faith” entered a guilty plea Thursday in Carbon County court.

Nadejda Reilly, 43, of Drums, pleaded guilty before Judge Joseph J. Matika to two counts of aggravated assault, felony 2s, and misdemeanor 1 count of recklessly endangering another person.

State police at Hazleton charged her following a crash on Jan. 7, 2020, along Route 93 in Packer Township. She was originally charged with 21 counts, including felony 1 counts of aggravated assault to cause serious bodily injury. However, all those charges, except the recklessly endangering count, were dropped and the two aggravated assault counts were added to the complaint for the purpose of a plea bargain with the district attorney’s office.

Troopers said they were summoned to the area just south of the Packer Township Municipal Building for a three-vehicle crash. Upon arrival, troopers said they interviewed Reilly, who related she was southbound on Route 93 when she intentionally turned her vehicle into the opposite traffic lane and drove it directly into the front end of an approaching northbound vehicle.

Troopers said she told them she performed the act because she “wanted to test her faith by driving through the vehicle.” Reilly told police, “God took care of her by not having her injured.”

She showed no remorse for the occupants of the other vehicle, troopers said.

Troopers said they interviewed the driver of the other vehicle, who corroborated Reilly’s account of the crash, saying all of a sudden the defendant’s vehicle turned directly in front of the vehicle. Both victims were transported to the hospital.

Defense attorney Matthew J. Mottola, of the public defender’s office, told the court that at the time of the incident his client was suffering from serious mental health issues. He said she had a psychotic episode. He said since the incident she spent about eight months in the Norristown state hospital for the mentally ill and continues counseling and taking her medications while an inmate in the county prison. She has been in custody since the day of the incident.

Mottola said her mental health providers have set up an aftercare plan for her continued treatment.

Reilly told Matika, “I apologize to you and the people it happened to that night. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

One of the victims of the incident spoke on behalf of Reilly, stating further incarceration will not serve any purpose or help the defendant.

Following a previous hearing Reilly was ruled not competent to stand trial.

Matika, who noted it was rare for a victim to speak on behalf of a defendant, said, “Jail isn’t the place for you any more.” He said continued mental health treatment was what she needed.

He then sentenced her to serve 11½ to 23 months in prison with credit for 534 days already served and paroled her. He also ordered her to get a mental health evaluation, supply a DNA sample, render 100 hours of community service, make restitution for damages not covered by insurance totaling $1,016.98, have no contact with the victims, pay court costs of about $1,000, pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole and must complete a pre-parole plan before being released from the prison.

The sentence was for the two aggravated assault counts. On the recklessly endangering charge she was placed on probation for a year, concurrent with the other counts.