Thread: illegal alien Gallegos: No harm meant by drinking?

Driver denies he's an example of problems of illegal immigration

FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@charlotteobserver.com

JOHN D. SIMMONS - STAFF PHOTO

The blood-alcohol level of Ramiro Gallegos, shown at his arraignment in February, at the time of his DWI wreck that killed Scott Gardner was nearly three times the legal limit.

The blood-alcohol level of Ramiro Gallegos, shown at his arraignment in February, at the time of his DWI wreck that killed Scott Gardner was nearly three times the legal limit.

LAURINBURG - Locked away in a state prison surrounded by a mile-long, razor-wire-lined fence, Ramiro Gallegos still struggles to understand how a day of drinking left him a murderer.

"When you're out, you don't think about anything, just having fun. You don't think about what could happen, to others, or yourself," he told the Observer in an interview at the prison Friday. "That's how I was. Now you find me here."

The 26-year-old former roofer is serving 14 to 18 years at the Scotland Correctional Institution about 100 miles east of Charlotte after pleading guilty in February to second-degree murder for the death of Scott Gardner.

Gallegos represents to many all that is wrong with illegal immigration. Brunswick Superior Court Judge William Gore Jr. sentenced Gallegos, and blamed the death partially on a failed immigration system.

On Friday, inside the prison visiting room, Gallegos gave his first public interview about the tragedy to the Observer. Dressed in a purple jumpsuit, his hair cut short with a thin goatee, he spoke somberly with his hands in his lap and head down.

The day of the wreck, Gallegos said, he had been drinking all day. He had his first beer, a Bud Light, that morning. He had a couple more at lunch with his friend and his brother-in-law. After lunch, he and the friend picked up a couple of 12-packs of Corona to drink back home. When they were done, they hopped back in the truck to buy some more.

Gallegos estimates he had about 15 beers by midafternoon. He knew he was drunk, he said.

On the drive, the men laughed and listened to popular Mexican folk music. The men were messing around, bumping each other, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Gallegos lost control and the truck ran off the road. He tried to pull it back, but over-corrected and crossed the center line.

Heading in the opposite direction, Gardner tried to swerve out of the way but couldn't avoid Gallegos' oncoming truck.

"I remember their car," Gallegos said, "but I don't know what happened next. Maybe I fell asleep. It was too late."

A nearby resident thought a bomb exploded.

Gallegos hurt his knee and shoulder, but was OK. He never looked inside the Gardner station wagon. Instead, he and his friend fled into the nearby woods. But they couldn't outrun police.

It wasn't until his arraignment that Gallegos learned someone died in the crash.

"I wanted to die," he said, wiping his wet eyes. "I never wanted to hurt anyone."

Gallegos said he was 7 when his father died. His mother left him and his eight brothers and sisters to fend for themselves a few years later in the city of Guanajuato, in central Mexico. He said he started drinking at age 14.

"I've never been able to give up that vice," he said. "Maybe I didn't want to. I didn't try to get help."

His sister Virginia told him time after time not to drink and drive. She sometimes wrestled the keys from him. But he said he never learned.

"Sometimes I woke up in the morning after drinking and driving, thinking `Oh, no I could have killed someone,' " he said.

Gallegos said he doesn't feel like a murderer but understands why people say he is. He is not, however, an example of the problems of illegal immigration, he says. A lot of his friends drink too much and then drive, he says. But he said most Latinos respect U.S. laws, work hard and contribute.

He says he's sorry, but he doesn't expect that will change how people feel about him.

"It was a terrible accident and I was at fault," he said. "I did something very bad. I understand that. If I could turn back time, I would. But I can't fix it because it already happened."


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Or how about if I had stayed in my own country and not entered the US illegally, this wouldn't have happened

He never looked inside the Gardner station wagon. Instead, he and his friend fled into the nearby woods. But they couldn't outrun police.

Sounds like he should have received the death penalty.

He and his illegal drunk buddies all deserve the firing squad.

This guy is getting everything he wants, to hang with his homies, 3 square meals, gym, roof over his head, pruno and whatever else he gets his hands on in jail.

This is no punishment in my eyes.