Man Gets 6 Years in Highway Fatality

A Fillmore man was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for driving drunk and killing a woman who was headed to her son’s wedding rehearsal last July.

After hearing emotional pleas for tough punishment from the victim’s family, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark sentenced a tearful Sergio Casas before a packed courtroom.

Casas, 36, had been eligible for a sentence ranging from probation to 11 years.

“This is one of those cases where a good person has done a terrible wrong to a very, very nice family,” said Louis (Chuck) Samonsky, Casas’ attorney.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Audry Rohn argued in court that the former Caltrans maintenance worker deserved a decade behind bars for making “terrible decisions” that devastated a family and destroyed a sacred family event.

“I always thought this was a prison case,” Rohn said outside court. “He took a life.”

Casas Had Pleaded Guilty to Charges

Casas, clad in a white dress shirt and dark slacks, cried intermittently during the 45-minute proceeding. He had been free on bail since his arrest last summer but was taken into custody after sentencing.

Casas had pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while drunk and driving under the influence of cocaine.

A hearing will be held to determine restitution, which prosecutors have said could top more than $100,000. The sum includes medical costs for a surviving victim and the wedding, which was canceled.

According to authorities, Casas had cocaine and twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he struck Robin McDonald-Gwaltney, 43, of Oxnard during the early evening on July 26.

McDonald-Gwaltney had stopped on the shoulder of California 126 near Santa Paula to pick up her 20-year-old son, Jason McMillan, whose car had broken down, authorities said.

‘More Pain Than I’ve Ever Been Through’

They had been headed to McMillan’s wedding rehearsal at the Church of Angels in Santa Paula. McDonald-Gwaltney was hit while carrying her son’s tuxedo from his car to hers.

McMillan was pinned between his car and his mother’s and suffered a crushed leg and a broken pelvis. On Tuesday, he hobbled to the dais to address the judge.

“I’ve been through more pain than I’ve ever been through in my entire life,” McMillan said. He continues to undergo physical therapy for his injuries.

Crystal McMillan, an aunt, told the judge that the day of the crash started as a joyous occasion but turned horrendous. The family’s pastor urged the judge to mete out a sentence that didn’t trivialize the crime.

Casas’ ex-wife, Los Angeles Police Officer Korina Kozub-Casas, testified that her ex-husband had been distraught since the crash. She said she had believed that drunk drivers were “scum” but doesn’t think that of her ex-husband.

“It’s hard to put into words the amount of remorse Sergio has,” Kozub-Casas said.

Both sides of the case acknowledged the defendant’s remorsefulness, as Casas did in a letter that was read in court by his attorney.

“I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done to you and your family,” Casas wrote Jason McMillan. “Why did I make such a decision [to drive drunk]?”

Samonsky said his client had no record before the crash and had not drunk alcohol in two years. Since his arrest, Samonsky said, Casas has spoken about the dangers of drinking and driving to several community groups.