LANCASTER, PA — A Lancaster city man was sentenced to 4 to 14 years in state prison by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker following his fourth DUI conviction in one year, announced the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Miguel Garcia-Torres, 58 of the 100 block of South Pearl Street, pleaded guilty in December to four dockets concerning fentanyl-related DUIs before the sentencing hearing Wednesday.
The defense counsel asked for a mitigated sentence and drug treatment.
“While it doesn’t apply to this case, cases like these are why the legislature passed Act 59 of 2022, Deana’s Law,” Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo said.
Deana’s Law requires sentences to be consecutive for defendants convicted of third and further DUIs.
Deana’s Law states that “a sentence imposed upon an individual [for a Highest Tier DUI] who has two or more prior offenses shall be served consecutively to any other sentence the individual is serving and to any other sentence being then imposed by the court, except for those with which the offense must merge as a matter of law.”
Judge Reinaker sentenced Garcia-Torres to time served to six months on the first docket, 1 to 5 years on the second docket, and 2 to 7 years on the third docket; those sentences ran concurrently. Judge Reinaker sentenced the defendant to 2 to 7 years on the fourth docket, which ran consecutively.
Judge Reinaker agreed with ADA Linardo that it was a miracle the defendant didn’t hurt anybody and one of the reasons he ordered the sentence was to protect public safety.
Garcia-Torres was charged with DUI offenses for incidents occurring on Jan. 26, April 14, April 28, and Oct. 4, all of 2021. The offenses occurred, in this order, in Lancaster city, West Lampeter Township, Paradise Township, and Lancaster city. Each time the defendant was asleep behind the wheel with his vehicle running.
Lancaster City Bureau of Police Officers Michael Deitz and Kevin Golinsky, West Lampeter Township Police Officer Shawn Powell, and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Joseph Chupick filed charges for each respective docket.
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