Mexican citizen suspected in DUI that killed 3 family members sentenced in gun case

A Mexican national suspected of a drunken driving incident that killed three members of a family in Sutter County in May 2019 was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in a separate firearms case in Sacramento, but his legal woes are only beginning.

Ismael Huazo-Jardinez, 34, was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty earlier to a single count of possessing a firearm while being in the United States illegally.

He could have faced up to 10 years in prison on the original charges, but his defense attorney, Jesse Santana of Yuba City, asked for a sentence of 15 months.

“Mr. Huazo-Jardinez is a 34-year-old father of a 12-year-old son and works as a farm laborer to support his son and his parents who live in Mexico,” he wrote in court papers. “As reflected in the pre-sentence investigation report, Mr. Huazo-Jardinez is a hard-working member of society who consistently worked for over 15 years as a farm laborer in an economically depressed area in which he lived to provide for his son and his parents.

“He readily admitted his guilt to the alien unlawfully in the United States in possession of a firearm offense and that he had the firearm in the truck for self-protection because he worked long hours as a farm laborer in orchards, which were isolated. Mr. Huazo-Jardinez’s motivation in committing the offense was to work to support his son and his parents.”

Huazo-Jardinez already has essentially served the 15-month sentence in the firearms case, but will continue to be held on other charges.

He still faces manslaughter and drunken driving charges in Sutter County Superior Court stemming from a May 4, 2019, incident in Knights Landing in which he allegedly crashed his SUV into a parked mobile home while speeding northbound on Highway 113 and failing to negotiate a curve.

The crash killed three members of the same family: Jose Alberto Pacheco, 38; Anna Grisalda Pacheco, 34; and their 10-year-old son, Angel. The Pachecos’ 11-year-old daughter was seriously injured but survived.

Witnesses to the crash held Huazo-Jardinez at the scene until authorities arrived, and court documents say his blood alcohol content was measured at .122, far above the .08 legal limit.

He was released on $300,000 bail but later detained by federal immigration officials.

Court papers say authorities found evidence in a search of his home that Huazo-Jardinez was preparing to leave the country, including $12,000 in cash, more than two dozen cellphones, a bag packed with clothing and his Mexican passport.

Officials also found a 9 mm handgun at the home, as well as a Springfield Armory XD pistol that had been reported stolen in Boise, Idaho, in 2017, court papers say.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a single count of possessing a firearm while being in the country illegally. Court papers say Huazo-Jardinez is a Mexican citizen who had been removed from the United States twice before the crash.

In addition to the manslaughter and DUI charges, Huazo-Jardinez now faces new federal charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Sacramento last week says evidence found during a search of his Yuba City home last year after the crash turned up “ three large plastic grocery bags containing plastic packaging with what appeared to be heroin residue on it.”

The complaint also says that text messages found on an iPhone link him to an August 2018 drug bust that led to the arrests of five people and the seizure of 33.5 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly 316 grams of heroin and more than $12,000 in cash.

“In short, the search of Huazo-Jardinez’s Apple iPhone has uncovered evidence that Huazo-Jardinez is significantly involved in narcotics trafficking, and involved specifically in the possession and movement for distribution of 33.5 pounds of methamphetamine,” an FBI affidavit says.

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Mexican citizen suspected in DUI that killed 3 family members sentenced in gun case."