Man Gets Jail Time in 2 Drunk-Driving Deaths

A 35-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 180 additional days in County Jail and three years of formal probation for a drunk-driving accident that killed his brother and cousin.

Francisco Mejia, who has no prior criminal record, has already spent 450 days in County Jail since the July 29, 1988, accident on Sierra Highway that killed his brother, Samuel Mejia, and cousin, Miguel Melquiades.

Francisco Mejia’s blood-alcohol content was 0.18% when the car struck an embankment and rolled over. The blood-alcohol content of both victims was about 0.28%. The legal standard for being drunk is 0.10%, which will drop to 0.08% next year.

Mejia told a Los Angeles County probation officer that he was not driving. But a passenger who survived told authorities that Mejia was behind the wheel.

Mejia pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular manslaughter in June under an agreement with prosecutors that he would not be sentenced to more than four years in custody.

Mejia admitted to the probation officer that he had been drinking before the accident. But he said he had never drunk alcohol before and did not know what effect it would have on him.