A 23-year-old man who was driving drunk when he crashed his car and killed two people in Elgin was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.
Adrian Velasco, of the 500 block of Gregory Avenue, Glendale Heights, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of aggravated DUI in October, admitted he was intoxicated when he slammed his car into another vehicle while driving 77 mph in a 30-mph zone, a Kane County Sheriff’s Office news release said.
The crash occurred about 1:40 a.m. March 20, 2019, when Velasco was driving west on Summit Street, the release said. He struck a car waiting to turn onto Summit Street near Dundee Avenue.
The driver of that car, 26-year-old Norieli Villagomez, was thrown from the vehicle, the release said. She died at a hospital a few hours later. A passenger in her car, Omar Zavala, 30, was pronounced dead at the scene, prosecutors said.
A passenger in Velasco’s car was seriously injured in the collision.
More Top Picks Maxshot V1spro
“(The) passenger told police that Velasco had been ‘driving all crazy,’ was ‘too drunk to drive,’ and had consumed Everclear grain alcohol as well as beer,” the release said. “Police reported that Velasco had open alcohol in the car, appeared to be in a stupor, fell asleep while being transported to the hospital and vomited at the hospital.”
Velasco’s blood-alcohol concentration was .271, the release said.
In addition to the prison term, Velasco must pay $36,000 in restitution to the victims’ families and will serve at least 85% of his sentence, the release said.
“A night of poor decisions and complete disregard for everyone destroyed two families,” Kane County State Attorney Jamie Mosser said in the release. “The needless deaths of Omar Zavala and Norieli Villagomez were the worst possible outcomes of Mr. Velasco’s criminal conduct. I hope he takes the time while in prison, and every day afterward, to understand the pain and sadness he caused.”