I hope that this hasn't already been posted. This is about an illegal drunk driver in Maryland. How sad that this continues to go on.

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Man Accused In Marine Death In U.S. Illegally
Thursday, November 30, 2006
WBAL Radio and The Associated Press


A man charged with manslaughter while intoxicated in a Thanksgiving crash apparently is in the United State illegally, according to immigration officials.

And Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano, 25, of Laurel, refused to take a refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene of an accident in February, but his license was not suspended, according to police.

Morales-Soriano has also been charged with two counts of homicide by motor vehicle in the deaths of Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews, 21, of Columbia, and his date for the evening, Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village. Mathews had recently finished eight months of duty in Iraq last year and planned to leave the military in June.

Morales-Soriano, who, Howard County Police said, had blood-alcohol level was four times the legal limit, was not injured in the crash. He is being held in the Howard County Detention Center in lieu of $830,000 bail.

There is no record of Morales-Soriano, a Mexican citizen, entering the country legally, according to James Dinkins, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Baltimore.

The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration said that Morales-Soriano, a landscaper, used his North Carolina driver's license issued Feb. 5, 2004, to obtain a license here July 8, 2005, The Sun reported.

In February, Howard County police went to a non-injury accident in a parking lot in Columbia. Morales-Soriano smelled of alcohol, according to a spokesman for the Howard County state's attorney's office.

After failing to keep his balance, Morales-Soriano refused a Breathalyzer test, the spokesman said, and he was given four citations and released.

But the officer mistakenly gave Morales-Soriano a form that was supposed to be sent to the MVA, and officials could not suspend his license as the law requires when a driver refuses a Breathalyzer.

Prosecutors later dropped the charges, noting weak evidence.

After the current criminal case against him is finished, immigration officials will begin deportation proceedings against Morales-Soriano, Dinkins said.