DUI driver sentenced to prison in deaths of 4 faces families in court
MIAMI - A drunk driver who killed 4 good samaritans trying to help a crashed motorcyclist has taken a plea deal, and for the first time since it happened, he apologized to the victims' families.
"Through all this process I have not been able to say that I regret deeply what happened and that I will never be able to replace that pain but the only thing that I can say is that I am sorry, very very sorry, and I will never ever forget those person that are not here with us... I am sorry," Lionel Orrego said through an interpreter.
He's pled guilty to 4 counts of DUI manslaughter, for Alina Ghani, Eugene Benjamin, John Brady Garzón, and Meryl Díaz.
"Do you understand that count 1-4 you will be sentenced to 10 years state prison with a four-year minimum mandatory sentence followed by 5 years reporting probation," Judge William Altfield said.
Altfield also said he will never be allowed to get a driver's license. The crash happened in August 2018 on I-95 near Northwest 62nd Street. A group of people had stopped to help a motorcyclist, shortly after Orrego hit them with his truck.
"Mr. Orrego, can I say I forgive you? The answer is no, no I cannot forgive you, because the emptiness of pain in my heart is never going away," Yuri Pacheco, John Garzon's aunt said.
"You didn't only take the life of four people, but you took pieces of lives of a lot of people, cause you took a piece of mine and I know you took a piece of his mom's his sister's his aunt and entire family. Okay and personally I believe the sentence is not long enough," Mariana Luna, John Garzon's friend said.
Family and friends of the victims killed expressed their pain and anguish at what Orrego had taken away, however, one survivor from the group of Good Samaritans spoke of letting go.
"That resentment shouldn't lie within our hearts to hold it against a person and to have any negative animosity towards anyone, so the fact that he took upon himself and said sorry, I feel we should just accept, even though we are hurt by what he did," Edwin Altidor said.
"The pain that you produce when you cause this kind of tragedy, there are no words to explain," Vladirmir Gutierrez, Meryl Diaz's father said.
Diaz was his only daughter, he told us she had gotten married just one year ago.
"She was talking to the 911 operator, trying to help, that was the character she had, she was trying to help somebody who was dying," Gutierrez explained.
He said he won't take the apology either, but he believes this case can serve as an example of why penalties should be much tougher when people drink and drive.
"It is not only about our suffering, it is about our message, take the message, don't do it," he concluded.