Erlin Garcia-Reyes pleaded guilty to felony hit and run today, just 11 days before the one-year anniversary of the fatal collision that took Mike Wang’s life.
From the King County Prosecutor’s Office:
Erlin Garcia-Reyes pleaded guilty as charged this afternoon to Felony Hit and Run for the hit and run death of cyclist Michael Wang on July 28, 2011 in Seattle. Garcia-Reyes, 28, will be sentenced on August 10 at 1 p.m. before Judge Michael Trickey at the King County Courthouse, courtroom W-711. The sentence range for felony hit and run is 31 to 41 months in prison. Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 41 months.
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Comments
9 responses to “Garcia-Reyes pleads guilty to hit and run that killed Mike Wang”
What’s that a year and a half and parole? His current driver’s license will almost certainly still be valid.
It’s not like he ran over someone with the car that he was responsible for, killing them, then immediately sped away to hide from authorities.
Prosecutors are weak. How about 4.1 years?
Since hit and run is equivalent to attempted murder and hit and run with a death is more like voluntary manslaughter, how do the penalty ranges for those crimes compare to this? Sounds like the legislature needs to remove the incentive to simply drive off and leave somebody to die.
We’re too soft in WA, in my opinion. Let’s give these prosecutors years instead of months to work with.
If he had stopped it would have probably been a $41 ticket and then go about your business. At least there is some progress with the vulnerable user act now.
Presumably he’ll be deported once he is released from prison.
so an extra 0.7 year?
oops, that was a reply to Kevin
One thing that saddens me is that only reason this case was solved was because the Taiwanese Association offered a (relatively small) reward for information leading to identification of the perpetrator after it became clear that the case was going to go nowhere otherwise. The bicycling community? Missing in action, except, as is our custom, when it came time to hold forth in shrill and strident terms. (Sort of like I’m doing now.)
The Taiwanese Association is to be applauded for taking actual and effective action when it was needed.
As for the people who knew who committed the crime but lay silent until they saw the flash of green, there is a special and very warm place for you. We may meet you there some day.