LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster man will serve up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to his fourth DUI offense in a year, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Friday.
Miguel Garcia-Torres, 58, was sentenced Wednesday to a prison term of four to 14 years by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker, according to prosecutors.
Garcia-Torres, of the 100 block of S. Pearl St., pleaded guilty in December to four dockets concerning fentanyl-related DUIs.
His defense attorney argued for a mitigated sentence and drug treatment.
"While it doesn't apply in this case, cases like this are why the legislature passed...Deana's Law," Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo said in the hearing.
Act 59 of 2022, or Deana's Law, requires sentences to be consecutive for defendants convicted of third and further DUIs, according to prosecutors.
The 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.”
Reinaker sentenced Garcia-Torres to time served to six months on the first docket, one to five years on the second docket and two to seven years on the third docket; those sentences ran concurrently.
Reinaker sentenced the defendant to two to seven years on the fourth docket, which ran consecutively.
Reinaker agreed with Linardo that it was a miracle the defendant didn’t hurt anyone, and one of the reasons he ordered sentence was to protect public safety.
Garcia-Torres was charged with DUI offenses for incidents occurring on Jan. 26 (in Lancaster), April 14 (in West Lampeter Township), April 28 (in Paradise Township), and Oct. 4 (in Lancaster). All of the offenses occurred in 2021.
In each case, Garcia-Torres was asleep behind the wheel with his vehicle running, prosecutors said.
