The driver of a vehicle who was fleeing the U.S. Border Patrol in Boulevard last year pleaded guilty Sept. 30 to three counts of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of three people in his truck.
Deputy District Attorney Clayton Carr said Luis Alberto Virgen, 22, faces “a stipulated of prison sentence of 20 years and eight months” as part of the plea agreement.
Carr said Virgen’s attorney won’t be able to argue for a lesser sentence. Virgen also pleaded guilty to six felony counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury to other passengers and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving.
Three counts of second-degree murder were dismissed by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Robert Amador, who set sentencing for Dec. 9.
The guilty pleas to the reckless driving charges reflect injuries to seven of the passengers who survived after the truck overturned on Crestwood Road on a dirt and rock embankment.
Killed were Erika Gonzalez- Cardoso, 38, Celerino Jimenez- Flores, 34, and Jorge Garcia-Isordia, 22. They were believed to be unauthorized immigrants as were the other seven passengers.
A motorist at the June 3 preliminary hearing testified he saw Virgen’s truck speeding at approximately 100 mph on Interstate 8 in the rain and was followed by Border Patrol agents.
Virgen refused to pull over after Border Patrol agents attempted to stop his vehicle after it got onto Interstate 8 from Buckman Springs Road.
Virgen was weaving in and out of traffic at speeds up to 100 mph at times with the Border Patrol following. A spike strip was placed on the road and his truck drove over it while it was raining.
Virgen is a U.S. citizen who was living in Tijuana at the time. He remains in jail on $3 million bail.
