http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegio ... eid=145928

Judge bemoans lack of driver ed for illegal who killed man
By O’Ryan Johnson
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - Updated: 01:03 AM EST

A Salem woman whose longtime friend and tenant was killed by an illegal alien driving without a license says she is shocked a judge not only reduced the man’s sentence, but took time to lament the lack of driver’s training for illegals during the sentencing.

Alex Costa, 28, of Peabody pleaded guilty to striking and killing Richard Golin, 49, and was sentenced to nine months. But Judge Robert Cornetta turned him over to immigration agents Monday for deportation to Brazil with only 163 days served.

Cornetta reportedly used the occasion to decry the fact that illegal immigrants don’t have access to driver training, saying it raised public policy concerns.

“What we will never know is whether Mr. Costa had some kind of driver training, if perhaps this tragedy would never have occurred,” the judge said, according to the Salem News. He could not be reached last night.

Mullen, 68, who took in Golin as a boarder 20 years ago, was outraged over Cornetta’s comments.

“He’s not even supposed to be in this country,” an exasperated Mullen said about Costa.

She said Golin was a beloved neighborhood figure. “My mother lived to be 106 and a half and she loved Richie. He used to say ‘Hi Girdie,’ and she’d say ‘Hi Richie.’ She never forgot his name.”