Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty To Killing Marine, Date

POSTED: 5:41 pm EDT September 18, 2007

COLUMBIA, Md. -- An illegal immigrant accused of killing a Marine and his date in a DUI crash last November pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday.

Edwardo Morales-Soriano, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent manslaughter.

According to police, Soriano's vehicle slammed into the rear of a car stopped at a red light at the intersection of Routes 175 and 108 in Columbia last Thanksgiving.

Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village, and Brian Matthews, 21, of Columbia, died as a result of the crash.

Matthews had served in Ramadi, Iraq, as part of the Fox Company 2nd Battalion 5th Marine Regiment. He had just celebrated Thanksgiving with his family when he and Bower went out on a date.

Court documents showed that Soriano had a blood-alcohol level of .32 that night. The legal limit is .08. Court officials said that after the crash, Soriano got out of his car, stumbled, sat on a guardrail and shook his head.

Officials said Soriano had a Maryland driver's license, but is a citizen of Mexico. He had been living in Laurel.

The judge ordered psychiatric, drug and alcohol evaluations on Soriano. He could face up to 20 years in prison, but prosecutors said they are asking for only eight.

Once he serves his sentence, Soriano could be deported.

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