For Sandra Jacobson, arrested Wednesday for drunken driving in a hit-and-run wreck that killed two women, this week's tragedy is just the latest chapter in a long and bizarre legal history.

Jacobson, 40, has been charged with participating in a pyramid scheme, drunken driving and illegally keeping a Bengal tiger in her Centennial home.

Jacobson's troubles appear to have started in 2004 when she was arrested and charged in federal court in connection with a multi-level marketing scheme in Maryland.

Participants were recruited with promises of making $5,000 to $19,000 a month as long as they purchased $4,000 in products to start, and recruited more sales reps.

As many as 35,000 people were drawn into the scheme, according to federal court documents, but only nine individuals earned $300,000 or more in the five years the scheme operated.

Jacobson provided sales materials, including advertisements and scripts that contained misleading representations, according to the court records.

She was convicted in 2006 of drunken driving in a hit-and-run accident in Castle Rock.

She was sentenced to 24 months of probation and 60 days of community service.

Jacobson has not complied with the terms of her probation. She failed to show up twice for alcohol counseling and then failed drug tests. She tested positive for alcohol and cocaine, court records show.

She also was booted from a treatment program at Barnabas Center last February after she failed to comply with a court order.

Jacobson also didn't complete 60 hours of community service, records show.

In 2007, Jacobson was cited in Arapahoe County for harboring a Bengal tiger in her home. Neighbors reported to police after they had seen the animal transported in an SUV.

The outcome of that case was not clear in records available Thursday.

Denver police said Jacobson was driving under the influence when she struck a Freedom Cab minivan Wednesday night on Peña Boulevard on the way to Denver International Airport.

Killed in the crash were Kathy Krasniewicz, 54, and Kate McClelland, 71, both of Connecticut. Both women were librarians for the Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich.

The cab driver remains at Denver Health Medical Center in fair condition.

The dead women were thrown from the minivan when it rolled. Police have not said whether they were wearing seatbelts.

Cab drivers interviewed at DIA Thursday said they post signs in their cabs asking passengers to fasten their seatbelts.

Drunken driving accidents in Colorado killed 226 people in 2007, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

It's unknown how many of those deaths were caused by repeat offenders, said Emily Tompkins of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Colorado.

"We have served several people who have been injured or killed by repeat offenders," said Tompkins, "It's absolutely heartbreaking to look someone in the eye when they're asking how is this possible?"