A Tampa Bay-area man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for a fatal DUI crash.

A Pasco County judge sentenced 56-year-old John Doe on Friday after he pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter. Doe’s driver license was revoked for life.

Authorities say John Doe failed to stop at an intersection and slammed his Ford Sport Trac into a Honda Accord in December 2009. The Accord was pushed into a Ford Explorer, while Doe’s Sport Trac continued on and hit an Infiniti. Multiple injuries were reported in all the vehicles, but the crash killed 52-year-old James E. , who was riding in the Accord.

Tests showed Doe had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 percent. State law considers a driver intoxicated at 0.08 percent.

Charged with a Tampa DUI offense? If so, call 813-362-5623 to schedule your free and confidential legal consultation with a Tampa DU lawyer at Musca law now.

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A man who was involved in a September crash that killed a married couple and their friend has been accused of driving under the influence and speeding when the crash occurred, the Tampa Police Department said.

The suspect, 20, was arrested at his Tampa home at around 4:30 p.m. today. He was charged with three counts of DUI manslaughter and three counts of vehicular homicide, police said.

Detectives determined he was driving his 2008 Dodge Charger at 84 mph on 34th Street approaching Chelsea Street. A blood-alcohol test taken at the hospital after the crash showed he was under the influence of alcohol, police said. Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08 percent.
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A man who struck and killed a motorcyclist Halloween night was charged with driving under the influence manslaughter and driving under the influence with serious bodily injury, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect turned himself in Jan. 28 and was released the next day after posting $25,000 bail, according to Hillsborough County jail records.

He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.161, the sheriff’s office said. Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08 percent.

The suspect, 46, of Seffner was exiting the driveway of his Plant City home in his 1997 Ford Explorer when he pulled into the path of a Harley Davidson driven by the victim, 49, of Plant City.

The victim and his daughter fell off the motorcycle. Camacho was transported to Lakeland Regional Hospital where he died, the sheriff’s office said. The victim’s daughter, 19, survived the crash.

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Tampa, Florida- A Hillsborough judge has sentenced a 28 year year old woman to 15 years in jail and 8 years probation for DUI manslaughter and DUI with Serious Bodily Injury. She plead guilty to driving drunk on September 10, 2008.

Troopers say her blood alcohol level tested three times the legal limit. A deputy saw the woman driving in the wrong direction on the Crosstown Expressway for about 2 miles. She hit head on the vehicle driven by 24 year old Jennifer O’Boyle, her 4 year daughter was a passenger. O’Boyle died at the scene. The victim suffered broken arms, legs, a pelvis and serious brain injury.

In court a tearful defendant asked the the victim’s family for forgiveness. “I know no matter how much time passes I could never make up for what I’ve done,” the woman told the victim’s family.

The victim’s grandmother has been caring for her through her multiple surgeries. The now convict woman says she wants others to know her daughter’s story to show what drinking and driving can do. “If I can save one life or two lives I’m happy,” says her mother.

Psychologists testified the woman suffered from childhood trauma including neglect and abuse that led to her risky behavior. In the end Judge John Sleet told the woman she had been given many chances throughout the life and it was her choice to drink and drive on that day. Sleet said to the woman what she did was “selfish and destructive and had deadly consequences.”

The woman’s sentence includes revoking her driver’s license for life, random urine tests for alcohol, 500 hours of community service and 400 of those hours to be spent lecturing in middle schools and high schools about her crime. Finally Sleet ordered the woman to carry on her a picture of the victim and her deceased mother everyday she is in prison.

The victim’s mother says no one came out a winner today. She adds the woman’s sentence won’t bring her daughter back or make her granddaughter well but it will close a chapter in their lives and allow them to move forward.

Charged with DUI in Hillsborough County? If so, contact a Tampa DUI lawyer at our firm for your free and confidential legal consultation.

Suspect

TAMPA — A Tampa man turned himself in on a DUI manslaughter charge Tuesday in connection with an Oct. 30 crash that killed a woman in Plant City.

Police say the suspect, 44, ran a red light at Hillsborough and Nebraska avenues and hit a truck driven by Yosandi Ortiz Aguilar.

The suspect’s blood-alcohol level was .296, police said, more than three times the limit at which state law presumes impairment. Besides the DUI manslaughter charge, he faces two counts of driving under the influence with property damage. Bail was set at $52,000.

At about 4 a.m. Oct. 30, Linares-Ortiz was eastbound on Hillsborough Avenue in a Dodge pickup, police said. As she entered the intersection, the suspect’s Ford pickup hit the driver’s side of her vehicle.

The suspect’s truck then hit a car driven by Clarence Inman, 78, police said. In the collision, Linares-Ortiz’s truck also hit a Toyota that was stopped at the traffic light. The Toyota’s driver, Raquel Casanova, 68, suffered minor injuries.

Linares-Ortiz died later at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

A passenger in the suspect’s truck, Marcus Dorfield, 45, of Tampa, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect also suffered minor injuries, police said.

Police initially reported they were investigating witness statements that the suspect ran a red light. They also said they were investigating to determine if alcohol was involved.

Authorities drew the suspect’s blood when he was at the hospital, and the results came back Wednesday and an arrest warrant was issued.

Charged with DUI in Tampa? If so, contact a Hillsborough County DUI lawyer at our firm for your free and confidential consultation.

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TAMPA, Fla. — A Hillsborough County man has pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI manslaughter for killing two women during a string of drunken driving crashes in Tampa.

With Monday’s open plea, the 40-year-old male could face life in prison at his Feb. 11 sentencing.

Authorities say he caused a total of five crashes within 30 minutes in April 2009. He stopped only after flipping his sport utility vehicle.

Killed in separate crashes were 2 woman ages 69 and 20.

Tests recorded his blood alcohol level after the crashes to by 0.147 percent. Florida law considers a driver impaired at 0.08 percent.

Charged with DUI in Tampa? If so, contact a Hillsborough County DUI attorney at our firm for your free and confidential consultation.

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TAMPA — The defendant was drunk and caused property damage three years ago on a Tampa highway, but he is not to blame for the death of another motorist who tried to help him, a Hillsborough jury decided Wednesday.

The defendant, 39, was on trial for DUI manslaughter, but after nearly three hours of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of a lesser charge of driving under the influence. He was also convicted of DUI with property damage.

Defense attorneys argued that Amir Sarhaddi, 29, was solely responsible for leaving the safety of his vehicle to help the defendant, who was drunk that night when he rear-ended a Jeep on Interstate 75.

When a car driven by another drunk driver killed Sarhaddi, it was not the defendant’s fault, jurors told the St. Petersburg Times after the trial.

She said jurors were split at the beginning of deliberations. Three had too many doubts to convict the defendant of DUI manslaughter, and three thought the charge was warranted.

They took turns explaining their thoughts, Servas and juror Kelle Cope said. After about 2 1/2 hours, the whole room agreed.

The fatal chain of events started about 3 a.m. Oct. 28, 2007. the defendant had a blood-alcohol level of 0.219 when he rear-ended a Jeep, investigators said.

Sarhaddi, who was coming home from a night out with his wife, avoided the defendant’s crash and got out to help. That’s when a second driver, Jessica Paquette, hit two cars and Sarhaddi.

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