Man to be deported for role in fatal wreck

In Augusta County Circuit on Friday, a Mount Solon man was convicted of reduced manslaughter charges stemming from an alcohol-related crash in November that killed a 17-year-old boy on Va. 42.
Due to his illegal immigrant status, Agustin Alcantar Garcia, 34, faces deportation to Mexico following his conviction. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on Garcia and is expected to deport him next week.
“We’ve had a couple of people confirm that he’s going to be deported,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrea Landes.
Garcia entered an Alford plea as part of an agreement with the Augusta County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. An Alford plea means Garcia acknowledges that enough evidence exists to convict him, but does not admit guilt. The court treats an Alford plea as the equivalent to pleading guilty.
As part of the agreement, Garcia received a five-year sentence, with all but six months suspended. He was credited with time already served at Middle River Regional Jail, where he has been held since November. His time there exceeded Virginia sentencing guidelines that call only for probation. Garcia had no prior convictions.
Landes presented a synopsis of the evidence and witnesses that would have been part of a trial.
Just before 7 a.m. Nov. 28, Garcia was driving south on Va. 42 at about 80 mph when he lost control of his pickup truck while rounding a long curve about a quarter-mile from Route 809, Landes said. The pickup slammed head-on into a northbound van with five passengers.
The van was going 59 mph at the time of the accident, according to Virginia State Police Trooper Preston Knott, an accident reconstruction expert. The speed limit on the road at the time was 55 mph.
The crash killed the van’s front-seat passenger, Tobias Martinez Hernandez, 17.
Accident reconstruction evidence showed that Garcia applied his brakes while in the southbound lane of Va. 42, eventually crossing to the other side of the road and striking the van.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrea Landes, said Virginia State Police Trooper C.E. Zen Zen detected an odor of alcohol on Garcia’s breath and found beer in his car. A state toxicologist said Garcia’s blood alcohol level was “in the vicinity of .11” at the time of the crash, though he tested at a .05 about four hours later. The legal limit in Virginia is .08.
“He stated [to Zen Zen] that the only thing he remembers about the accident was that the van’s lights were on bright and that they blinded him,” Landes said.
Landes said Knott would have testified that the lights of both vehicles were on dim.