INDIANAPOLIS — The man convicted in a deadly I-70 crash that killed an Indianapolis Colts player and his Uber driver has been sentenced to 42 months for illegally reentering the United States.
Manuel Orrego-Zavala, 38, from Guatamala, plead guilty to two counts of operating a motor vehicle with an ACE (blood alcohol content) of .15 or more, causing death in the February 2018 crash.
Zavala is accused of having a blood alcohol content of 0.239 percent – three times the legal limit – when the truck he was driving crashed into a vehicle on the shoulder of I-70 near Holt Road on Feb. 4. The collision killed Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson, who was a passenger in the vehicle, and Uber driver Jeffrey Monroe.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
READ | Man pleads guilty in drunken crash that killed Colts player, Uber driver
United States Attorney Josh Minkler issued a press release Tuesday saying Orrego-Zavala had been sentenced for being an llegal alien because he had illegally re-entered the United States after he was previously deported.
“Mr. Orrego-Zavala re-entered the country illegally for the second time before he put the public safety of Indianapolis at risk and took the lives of two innocent men on February 4, 2018,” said Minkler. “This prosecution represents our office’s commitment to charging aliens that illegally re-enter the country, especially if they are a risk to public safety or there is a criminal history present.” According to court records, Orrego-Zavala was convicted of two drug felonies in California prior to his removal from the United States the first time in 2007. Orrego-Zavala was found in the United States again in May 2009 and subsequently removed a second time.
READ MORE | Attorney says on-scene confession bysuspect in fatal DUI crash should be thrown out| Docs: Suspect in drunk driving crash that killed Colts player, Uber driver showed ‘no remorse’ | Suspect in crash that killed Colts player was in U.S. illegally, had been deported twice
At the sentencing hearing, Assistant United States Attorney William L. McCoskey told the Court that a consecutive federal sentence would be appropriate because it would “send a strong message to the defendant and others similarly situated that we are a nation of laws, and that there are real consequences that come from violating those laws.”
Orrego-Zavala’s sentence of 42 months was ordered to be served consecutively to the state sentence of 16 years.
“This individual’s criminal and immigration histories clearly demonstrate a total disregard for U.S. law,” said Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons. “Let this sentence serve as a reminder that Homeland Security Investigations prioritizes the prosecution of those who are intent on disrespecting our laws and putting the community at risk.”
