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updated 9/29/2009 10:31:32 PM ET 2009-09-30T02:31:32

An Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Pulp Fiction" has been sentenced to a year in jail for causing a fatal traffic crash in Southern California.

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Roger Avary was sentenced Tuesday in a Ventura court, the Ventura County Star newspaper reported. He also received five years of probation.

Avary pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for the 2008 crash that killed a passenger in Avary's Mercedes in Ventura County. Authorities say Avary's car was traveling at more than 100 mph when it crashed into a telephone pole.

Avary's wife was ejected from the vehicle and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Avary and Quentin Tarantino share the 1995 Academy Award for writing "Pulp Fiction." He also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beowulf."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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