By South Jersey Times
on February 15, 2014 at 10:53 AM, updated February 15, 2014 at 11:19 AM

A Mullica Hill man pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular homicide in connection with a 2013 crash that claimed the life of a passenger in his vehicle.

Rufino Lopez-Cruz, 35, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated, admitting he was "impaired by alcohol" when the SUV he was driving flipped over on Wolfert Station Road in East Greenwich Township on March 23, 2013, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Santos Perez, 59, a friend of the driver and passenger in the SUV, died of chest injuries.

Lopez-Cruz, a Mexican national in the country illegally, admitted he had been drinking before driving and did not dispute a test that showed his blood alcohol level after the crash was .162, or more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to prosecutors.

Under terms of a plea agreement that was reviewed with the family of the victim, Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Bryant Flowers will recommend that Lopez-Cruz be sentenced to five years in state prison on the second-degree crime and that he would not be eligible for parole until he serves 85 percent of the prison term.

He would be subject to three years of parole supervision after prison. He would also have his driver’s license suspended for seven months and be fined $500.

Superior Court Judge Kevin T. Smith accepted the pleas and scheduled sentencing for April 4. Lopez-Cruz has been jailed in default of bail since the crash.

Speaking through an interpreter in court Friday, Lopez-Cruz said he was a Mexican national in the United States illegally and added he was aware he could be deported, pending a determination of immigration authorities. His prison sentence would be served prior to deportation, according to the prosecutor's office.

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/...ich_crash.html