Drunk Driver Sentenced to Prison Term in 2 Deaths

A 21-year-old illegal alien was sentenced to two years and eight months in state prison Wednesday for killing two people when he fell asleep at the wheel while driving drunk.

Superior Court Judge Jame A. Albracht in Van Nuys ordered Victor Trujillo, a native of Mexico living in Reseda, to prison for two counts of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence in the deaths of Gildard Guttierrez and Magdeline Munoz, both of Reseda.

A probation report said Guttierrez and Munoz were riding in Trujillo’s car on Wilbur Avenue near Erwin Street in Reseda last November when the car suddenly veered to the right and slammed into the back of a parked truck.

Trujillo was driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.23, police tests showed. Under state law, drivers with a blood alcohol level of 0.1 are considered legally drunk.

Court documents also showed that Trujillo was on probation for a 1983 drunk-driving conviction at the time of the accident.

Albracht dropped two additional counts against Trujillo of causing death while driving under the influence.

Although Albracht and Deputy Dist. Atty. Bob Cohen criticized the plea bargain that allowed Trujillo to plead guilty to two of four charges in return for the reduced sentence, they acknowledged that a lighter sentence was called for because they could not prove that Trujillo was driving recklessly.

The plea bargain “was worked out in Municipal Court and they obviously felt they couldn’t prove gross negligence,� Cohen said. He said Trujillo may face additional time in jail for violating his probation.