ST. CHARLES, Ill. (AP) - A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in a drunken driving crash that killed two people in 2019.
Adrian Velasco, 23, of Glendale Heights was sentenced Thursday. He pleaded guilty in October to two felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in the March 2019 crash, the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported.
Authorities said Velasco had a blood alcohol content of .271 - more than three times the state’s legal threshold of .08 - when his vehicle plowed into a car in Elgin, killing driver Norieli Villagomez, 26, and passenger Omar Zavala, 30.
Velasco must pay $36,000 in restitution to the victims’ families and must serve at least 85% of his 10-year sentence.
A passenger in Velasco’s vehicle who suffered serious injuries in the crash told police Velasco had been “driving all crazy,” was “too drunk to drive,” and had consumed Everclear grain alcohol and beer, prosecutors said.
Velasco was driving 77 mph (124 kph) in a 30 mph (49 kph) zone, crossed oncoming lanes, left the road and crashed into Villagomez’s vehicle.
Kane County Judge John Barsanti said he had to take into account that Velasco had no previous criminal history, but said he gave more than the minimum sentence because Velasco was driving more than 40 mph (60 kph) over the speed limit.
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