Thread: Illegal Alien Sentenced To 10 Years For Bicyclist's Death

Lobaton Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter
Mexican National Sentenced To 10 Years For Bicyclist's Death
This article was published on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 9:02 PM CDT in News
By Robin Mero

BENTONVILLE -- Years of police work and cooperation from immigration officials culminated Wednesday in bringing to justice a man who hit a bicyclist in 2004 then fled the scene.


Lazaro Andrade Lobaton, now 21, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of Brandon Haley, 31, a father of three who was riding his bicycle one Sunday morning on Arkansas 68 east of Siloam Springs.

After striking Haley and causing fatal head injuries, Lobaton fled the scene and soon left the country for his native Mexico. He was captured in Alabama last November. A second felony charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident was filed against him.

Lobaton admitted drinking several beers in the hours before the accident. He has no felony criminal history but was convicted once of driving while intoxicated.

Riding with Haley that day was Roger Holroyd, who made a statement Wednesday before Lobaton in the courtroom of Benton County Circuit Judge David Clinger.

"Witnessing the accident was the most terrifying moment of my life. I was riding so close to Brandon that I was spattered from head to toe with his blood," Holroyd said. "There is no way you can understand how scared and lonely I was after you abandoned us and left Brandon to die with me unable to help ... or the anguish in the voices of the people I had to call that morning."
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Following the hearing, Holroyd expressed frustration Lobaton can first seek parole in less than one year, having already served 10 months in jail.

"Those laws need to be changed," he said. "(Lobaton's) actions ... were violent in the extreme and (his) decision to run rather than stay to help us was absolutely deliberate."

Prosecutors unsuccessfully tried to find a more serious charge than manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, the judge said.

"All of us here agree that for such actions there ought to be a more serious penalty," Clinger said. After Lobaton leaves prison, he will serve a six-year suspended sentence.

Also making statements Wednesday were Haley's mother, Judy, and his widow, Angie -- who described her husband as "an experienced cyclist who took every precaution."

She read letters from two of the couple's three children, ages 2, 5 and 7 when their father died.

"The man you killed was my daddy and I have a question: Why were you drinking and driving?" penned one daughter, now age 8.

The hearing was so filled with emotion that even the translator faltered, asking the judge for a few moments to compose herself before resuming translation for Lobaton.

Following the hearing, the family acknowledged Deputy Prosecutor Clay Fowlkes for his years of support, and Benton County Sheriff's Office investigators Greg Hines and Geovanni Serrano, and Lt. Paul Carter.

After the accident, officials pursued the man who owned the truck Lobaton was driving. Ramon Sanchez, then 54, of Rogers was prosecuted for felony hindering apprehension, filing a false police report and two counts of insurance fraud.

Sanchez reported the 2002 Dodge truck stolen immediately following the accident. Rogers police found the truck abandoned that night and returned it to Sanchez.

However, sheriff's deputies later examined the truck and decided it was the vehicle that hit Haley. Sanchez admitted purchasing the truck and an insurance policy for Lobaton's use, since Lobaton was an illegal alien.

Lobaton was represented by Rogers attorney Janet Spencer.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2007/ ... obaton.txt

Prosecutors unsuccessfully tried to find a more serious charge than manslaughter, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, the judge said.

Bull, why don't prosecutors just invent ones....like they do when they want to try our border patrol agents for attempted murder for doing their jobs.

Drunk hit and run illegal immigrant.