Monday, 04/09/07

Illegal immigrant pleads guilty, asks for forgiveness in DUI deaths

By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer


An illegal immigrant who killed a Mt. Juliet couple in a drunk driving crash asked their family for forgiveness in a Nashville court room this morning while at the same time blaming a system that allowed him to get multiple DUIs previously with little punishment.

“I also had six DUIs and I had some days (in jail) but they never really punished me, so they’re partly responsible,” Gustavo Garcia Reyes said before pleading guilty to causing the deaths of Sean and Donna Wilson.

In exchange for the guilty plea before Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Randall Wyatt, Reyes received a 25-year prison sentence. He will have to serve 30 percent of the time before being eligible for parole.




Reyes, 29, was more than four times over the legal alcohol limit when he caused a two-car accident on Old Hickory Boulevard on June 8, 2006. His case outraged many people because was in the country illegally and he had been arrested at least 14 times before the fatal crash.

After the wreck, police said his name was Gustavo Reyes Garcia. In court today, he said his name was actually Garcia Reyes.


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