Driver in fatal DUI wreck sentenced to 25 years

A 27-year-old Plant City man will spend 25 years in prison for driving drunk and running over a motorcyclist on Interstate 4.

A jury last month convicted Luis Gonzalez-Ines of DUI homicide in the death of Gilberto Acevedo, 36, of Tampa.

He was also convicted of DUI manslaughter, driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a crash and driving with a suspended driver's license.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett L. Battles sentenced Gonzalez-Ines today to prison time followed by five years of probation.

Battles scoffed at the terms the defendant and his public defender used to describe the incident.

"This was no accident. It wasn't an error or a horrible, reckless decision," he said. "This was a fatal decision."

Gonzalez-Ines was driving a pickup truck about 2:25 a.m. on May 10, 2008, when he crashed into Acevedo, dragging Acevedo and his motorcycle under the truck.

Acevedo was thrown free; both vehicles burst into flames.

Julia Acevedo showed Battles pictures of her brother, including one taken the day of his death, and of his two daughters.

"This is my brother - you took his life," she said, turning to face Gonzalez-Ines. "You have no idea how much I miss him."

A cousin read a letter from Hector Prieto, the victim's older brother, who lives in Puerto Rico and is raising Acevedo's daughters.

"Every day I have to watch those two princesses grow older and wiser without their father who you took away," Prieto wrote. "I choose to forgive you and I pray that you can mend your actions and turn your life around."

Gonzalez-Ines apologized to Acevedo's family, his words translated into English by an interpreter.

"I wish I would have been the one who died, not that innocent person," he said. "I beg forgiveness."

Gonzalez-Ines was free on bail at the time of the wreck following his arrest on a driving under the influence charge two months before in Polk County.

"He had his wake-up call," prosecutor Barbara Coleman said. "He didn't take heed."

Acevedo's friend Joel Silvera testified at trial that they were returning home from Lakeland after a day of riding motorcycles with friends when the crash happened.

Silvera said he was slightly ahead when a pickup sped up from behind.

"All of a sudden I heard a boom and I couldn't see his (Acevedo's) headlight," he testified.

Witnesses said Gonzalez-Ines jumped out of the truck and ran.

A sheriff's dog tracked down Gonzalez-Ines, who had passed out in a nearby orange grove.