Man Sentenced For Fatal DUI Crash That Killed 4 Last Year

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – A 24-year-old man was sentenced Monday to 14 years in state prison for a DUI crash outside Gilroy last year that killed four people, three of whom were high school students.

Superior Court Judge Edward Lee imposed the sentence on Anthony James Imbronone III for the crash on Leavesley Road east of New Avenue around 10:30 p.m. on May 12, 2015, Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Patricia Henley said.

The victims were 18-year-old Yesenia Mendoza Pina, Yolanda Jimenez and Sara Williams and 24-year-old Joseph Vasquez Flemate, all of Gilroy, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.

Williams was a student at Christopher High School while Mendoza Pina and Jimenez attended Mount Madonna Continuation High School, Gilroy Unified School District officials said.

On the night of the crash, Imbronone was driving a 1997 Ford Mustang and lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a hard curve, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The car crashed into a concrete drainage ditch where all four passengers were pronounced dead, CHP officials said.

Officers found an open container of alcohol, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, according to the CHP.

Imbronone suffered major injuries and was treated at a hospital for several days, CHP officials said.
The defendant had pleaded guilty to felony DUI and four allegations of personal infliction of great bodily injury, according to Henley.

The 24-year-old man had faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison, according to Henley.

Imbronone apologized to the victims' families, who also made remarks about their loss, during his sentencing hearing Monday morning at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, Henley said.

Imbronone's attorney, Beth Kendall of the Santa Clara County Alternate Defender Office, didn't immediately return requests for comment Monday afternoon.

• Also see: Ignition-Interlock Devices To Soon Be Mandatory For Repeat DUI-Offenders, First-Timers Who Cause Injury

Previous case coverage:

• Gilroy Driver In 4-Person Fatal Crash Identified, Arrested For Suspected DUI
• Four Dead, Including Child, In Suspected DUI Crash Near Gilroy
• BREAKING: Crash Kills Four, Injures Another In Gilroy

--Bay City News/Image via Sheriff's Office