Fatal Virginia crash latest flashpoint in immigration debate
By Alan Gomez • August 5, 2010

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA. — An illegal immigrant charged with drunken driving in a crash that killed a nun and critically injured two others could face a felony murder charge in the case, a Virginia prosecutor said Wednesday.




Paul Ebert, the commonwealth's attorney for Prince William County, said he will seek the charge when he presents the case to a grand jury in September against Carlos Martinelly Montano, 23. Montano already is facing a third charge of driving while intoxicated and a charge of involuntary manslaughter after Sunday's crash. A felony murder conviction carries a maximum of 40 years in prison.


The crash quickly became the latest flashpoint in the national immigration debate. Groups that want stricter controls on immigration cited Montano, who was free while awaiting a federal deportation hearing, as an example of a failed policy that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the United States.


"This guy would have been identified as being an illegal alien several violations and incarcerations ago, and he would be back in his home country," said Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which wants lower levels of legal and illegal immigration. "He wouldn't be driving without a license and killing people."


Killed in the crash was Sister Denise Mosier 66, who was traveling to a five-day religious retreat at the Benedictine Sisters monastery in Prince William County with two other nuns, Charlotte Lange, 75, and Connie Ruth Lupton, 70. First Sgt. Kim Chinn of the Prince William County Police Department said the other two women are hospitalized in "pretty serious" condition.


The Benedictine Sisters of Virginia said in a statement that they were "dismayed and saddened that this tragedy has been politicized and become an apparent forum for the illegal-immigration agenda."


David Leopold, president of American Immigration Lawyers Association, agreed. He said the case was isolated and did not suggest that a large percentage of illegal immigrants drive drunk or commit crimes.


"The issue in this case is not that an undocumented driver was driving drunk. The issue is drunk driving, period," Leopold said. "There is not a problem in this country with any particular ethnic group. It is a national problem from state to state."


Montano, of Bolivia, was ordered held without bond during a Wednesday hearing, Ebert said.


Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Secretary Janet Napolitano has ordered an immediate review to determine why Montano was released after his second DWI conviction in 2008, when he served 20 days in jail.


http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/ ... ion+debate