Mario Celestino Torres, a 30-year-old man, pleaded guilty on Monday and he was sentenced to only six years in prison for an alcohol-related DUI collision that killed Flor Mecon Granados, a 44-years-old Santa Ana resident who was riding a motorcycle.
Torres he rear-ended the motorcycle driven by Granados just before 3 a.m. on April 11, 2024, at S. Bristol Street and W. Segerstrom Avenue.
Torres was driving a 2024 Mazda. Both vehicles were northbound on Bristol Street at Segerstrom Avenue when Torres crashed his Mazda into the rear-end of the motorcycle, according to the SAPD.
Torres was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury with a sentencing enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury on the victim.
Torres pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing. This Monday he finally accepted the responsibility for what he did. Torres got 584 days credit for the time he spent behind bars since his arrest. That means he is actually going to serve about another four and a half years in prison. His victim, Granados, on the other hand, is gone forever.
If there are no prior DUIs plus a guilty plea, and no evidence he was involved in a criminal lifestyle prior, I think 6 years is not unreasonable. A longer sentence would not bring the deceased back, and the desire for one usually stems more out of a thirst for vengeance than justice. He already took a life and ruined his own; 6 years in a psychotic lion’s den (prison) is a lifetime for a normal person. Good people sometimes make terrible mistakes. Now if he had multiple priors and a long rap sheet like most of the people in these stories do, I’d agree. But he might have been a decent guy who made a terrible mistake. I’d trust the judge’s discretion on this one.
It’s disturbing how many of these folks get involved in another DUI later on.
Fair point.
yeah im putting 1000$ on pillar of the community Mario Celestino Torres’ books every month then picking him up with booze and prostitutes in a couple years