Man Sentenced In 2013 Fatal Accident In Lawrence Township

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Hamilton Township man has been sentenced to five years in prison after previously pleading guilty to drunk driving in connection with an accident that killed three people in Lawrence Township in 2013. Luis Delcid-Cardona, 22, will also be deported back to Guatemala upon completion of his prison term, the Trentonian reports.

He was sentenced on Tuesday, according to the report. He showed remorse after grieving family members chastised him for drunk driving.

Delcid-Cardona, an undocumented immigrant, lost control of his 2001 Volkswagen GTS on I-95 southbound (toward Pennsylvania—at the transition from I-295 northbound) shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013.

The vehicle went over a curb that divides the on-ramp lanes from Rt.1, then struck the rear of a tractor-trailer that had pulled onto the shoulder of the ramp.

The two rear seat passengers, Samantha Belliveau, 18, of Hamilton and Nicole Rodrigues, 20, of Yardville were both ejected from the car and died at the scene.

The front seat passenger, Jonathan Rivas, 19, of Princeton was transported to Capital Health Regional Hospital, where he later succumbed to serious head injuries.

Delcid-Cardona was also injured, but fled the scene following the crash. He was located and arrested a short time later at a home in Lawrence, police said.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree death by auto on March 1 of this year.