PRESTON, Minn. — The identical twin sister accused of trying to take the blame for her sibling by lying to investigators after a deadly Amish buggy collision in southeastern Minnesota has entered a guilty plea.

“I did,” Petersen said during the Tuesday settlement conference in Fillmore County District Court. “I lied.”

Sarah Beth Petersen is accused of misleading investigators after the morning crash on Sept. 25, 2023. She was charged in February 2024 with 16 felony counts relating to aiding an offender and taking responsibility for criminal acts.

Petersen pleaded guilty to two felony counts of criminal vehicular operation that caused great bodily harm, both involving her taking responsibility for the criminal acts of another. Petersen may face up to four years of probation and six months in jail.

The 36-year-old Petersen and her identical twin sister, Samantha Jo Petersen, are accused of attempting to switch places after Samantha’s SUV struck a two-wheeled horse-drawn buggy on Fillmore County Road 1 near the intersection with County Road 102. As a result of the crash, two children and a horse were killed. Two other children were injured.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Sarah Petersen admitted that her twin sister called her around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2023.

“She was crying,” Sarah Petersen said. “She was panicking and scared.”

Sarah Petersen said in court that once she got to the scene of the crash, her sister told her she didn’t see the buggy while driving over the hill. Samantha Petersen then asked Sarah Petersen to tell law enforcement that she was driving.

“At first, I said no,” Sarah Petersen said. “Then she made a comment saying she would go to prison for a long time.”

Witnesses who first arrived at the crash scene told a Fillmore County sheriff’s captain that they saw a woman they presumed had been involved in the collision talking on her phone. Later, another woman appeared at the scene who looked similar to the first woman but was wearing different clothes.

As Sarah Petersen sat in the squad car, the car’s audio recording equipment picked up a conversation between the sisters, who are both from Kellogg. The two discussed how law enforcement could not tell them apart.

“There’s no way they would ever know the difference between the two of us so they can’t tell,” Sarah Petersen could be heard saying.

In a search of Samantha Petersen’s phone, investigators found text messages from her to friends, including one in which she wrote: “Made Sarah come and take the fall for it so I wouldn’t go to prison.”

Samantha Petersen had also used her phone to search the internet for “What happens if you get in an accident with an Amish buggy and kill two people,” “How to lock an iphone cops have” and “If you hit a buggy and kill two people are you going to prison?”

District Judge Jeremy Clinefelter said that at Sarah Petersen’s sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for March 31, the court would accept her guilty plea and dismiss 14 other charges.

Samantha Petersen is facing 17 charges, relating to criminal vehicular homicide, felony criminal operation, driving while impaired, failing to provide proof of insurance and careless driving. Four counts, including the element that Petersen was under a combination of methamphetamine and THC, were dismissed.

Following Sarah Petersen’s hearing, Fillmore County Attorney Brett Corson said there is a chance that the testimony heard in court Tuesday would impact Samantha Petersen’s case. He did not specify how.

Samantha Petersen’s trial is scheduled for July 14.

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