Breaking News for Culpeper and Warrenton Accident Victims

Man pleads to DUI manslaughter

Posted on Aug 30, 2008

An illegal immigrant was convicted Friday of manslaughter in the death of a 17-year-old boy killed in an alcohol-related crash Nov. 28 on Va. 42.

In a plea agreement with the Augusta County prosecutor's office, Agustin Alcantar Garcia, 34, of Mount Solon entered an Alford plea in Augusta County Circuit Court to a charge of manslaughter — driving under the influence. He was sentenced to five years in prison and had 4 1/2 years suspended.

An Alford plea does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction. It carries the same weight as a guilty plea.

Assistant prosecutor Angela Landes said Garcia was headed southbound and rounding a long curve at 6:46 a.m. on Va. 42 near Va. 809 when he lost control of his pickup, striking a van with five occupants head-on. A 17-year-old boy, Tobias Hernandez Martinez of Mexico, a passenger in the front seat of the van, was killed as a result of the crash.

Landes said skid marks from Garcia's pickup indicated he locked his brakes while still in his lane before crossing the double-yellow line. An accident reconstruction expert said Garcia's truck was going 79 mph when he lost control, according to Landes. The van's speed was estimated at 59 mph.

Landes said beer cans were found in Garcia's pickup, and that a toxicologist would have testified that Garcia's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was "in the neighborhood of .11 percent," above Virginia's legal limit of .08.

A detainer has been placed on Garcia by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Landes said Garcia will be picked up in the coming week and deported to Mexico.

Garcia, who has no prior arrests, was credited for time already served in Middle River Regional Jail. Virginia's recommended sentencing guidelines called for him to serve no time behind bars and be placed on probation.