http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=26860

Anaya gets 10 years for triple fatal
By GREG SOWINSKI
419-993-2090
06/20/2006
gsowinski@limanews.com

LIMA — Victor Anaya has no idea why his life was spared in drunken driving crash that killed three others.

But he wants some good to come from his mistake by helping people, he told a judge Monday before he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“It is eating me alive each day that I look at the mirror and ask why I survived,” Anaya said. “I am more that willing to pay for it but I am going to make the best of it.”

Anaya, 27, had pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide over a June 24, 2005, crash that killed three at the intersection of Lincoln Highway and state Route 115. Anaya’s blood-alcohol level was 0.19, well over the .08 maximum level to drive in Ohio.

Allen County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Reed told Anaya he may be able to do something good but not until he is punished for his crimes. The three dead never will have a second chance, the judge said.

“The bottom line is there has to be some accountability,” Reed said.

The three killed were illegal immigrants. Attempts by local officials to contact their families were unsuccessful. No one knows what their future could have been or the pain their families feel, Reed said.

Anaya told the judge his life had been on a downward spiral for nearly four years after his relationship ended with his wife but acknowledged it wasn’t a good excuse for his bad choices.

“There is no acceptable answer,” he said.

In a speech that lasted about 10 minutes, Anaya asked the judge to send him to a prison that offers alcohol counseling so he can better his life. He also pledged to return to Lima after his release to help others instead of returning to his previous home in Texas.

“I need help, sir. Please listen to this broken spirit,” he said. “I am more than willing to pay for it. I am going to make the best of it.”

In the crash, Anaya ran a stop sign at the intersection and collided with a car. The impact sent Anaya’s van off the road flipping over. Four of the five passengers inside were ejected. Aurelio Escudero, 30, Ismiaei Tores, 24, and Moses Contrevas, 51, were killed in the crash. A fourth person, Albino Rodriques, 24 survived. Anaya spent several weeks in the hospital following the crash.