Smuggler gets 6.5 years; murder charge dropped as part of guilty plea
By Kim Smith
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.03.2008
A drug smuggler who was involved in a fatal crash while hauling 1,400 pounds of marijuana was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison Tuesday.in
Jose Miguel Ramirez-Soto, 23, was indicted last year on one count each of first-degree murder, transportation of marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale after Susan Bieger, 53, was killed in a wreck on the Tohono O'odham Nation.
At the time of the crash, police officials said Ramirez-Soto was in a stolen Chevrolet pickup truck when it ran a stop sign at Arizona 86 and Federal Route 1 and slammed into the side of Bieger's car about three miles outside the community of Why.
Bieger had been headed for a weekend stay in Puerto Peñasco, where she and her husband owned a home.
The driver of the pickup truck and another passenger fled from the scene of the crash.
Ramirez-Soto suffered serious injuries in the accident and was arrested upon his release from a Phoenix hospital.
Last month, Ramirez-Soto pleaded guilty to transportation or importation of marijuana for sale.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Edgar Acuña could have given Ramirez-Soto anywhere from 3 to 12 1/2 years in prison.
Bieger’s parents and husband all expressed outrage Ramirez-Soto chose to come into the country illegally and chose to haul drugs for “easy cash.â€