Driver Sentenced To Up To 89 Months For Crash That Killed Neighbor

SMITHFIELD – A Raleigh man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for an impaired-driving crash that killed his neighbor earlier this year in Johnston County.

Luis Angel Chaidez Gonzalez pleaded guilty Aug. 6 in Johnston County Superior Court to felony death by motor vehicle in connection with the April 3 crash that killed Jose Alberto Francisco-Perez.

Superior Court Judge William R. Pittman sentenced Gonzalez to 64 to 89 months in prison, which prosecutors said was the maximum sentence allowed by law.

The crash happened around 2:23 a.m. on Interstate 42, the former U.S. 70 Bypass, near the Wake County line.

According to the N.C. State Highway Patrol, Gonzalez was driving a 2008 Ford Ranger westbound when the truck ran off the right side of the highway. He overcorrected, crossed multiple lanes, left the roadway on the opposite side and overturned several times before coming to rest in the roadway.

Neither Gonzalez nor Francisco-Perez was wearing a seat belt. Both men were ejected.

Francisco-Perez, 40, of Raleigh, was transported to Wake Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries. Gonzalez, 30, was also taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators determined speed and alcohol impairment were major factors in the crash.

Prosecutors said testing showed Gonzalez had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.21 after the wreck, more than twice the legal limit in North Carolina.

Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Patterson prosecuted the case.

“This was a completely preventable tragedy,” District Attorney Jason Waller said. “The defendant made the dangerous decision to drink and drive, and his friend paid the price with his life.”

Waller said no prison sentence could undo the loss suffered by Francisco-Perez’s family, but he hoped the sentence would provide some measure of closure.

The district attorney said the case was one of three involving death or serious injury caused by impaired driving resolved by his office during the same week, with each defendant receiving a multi-year prison sentence.

“This is a sobering reminder of just how dangerous impaired driving is and how seriously we take these cases,” Waller said.

Waller also credited the State Highway Patrol with investigating the fatal crash and bringing the case forward for prosecution.