Driver Gets 15 Years to Life in 2 Traffic Deaths

A 27-year-old Arleta man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in prison for killing two pedestrians and critically injuring a third in a drunk driving, hit-and-run collision.

Frumencio Ortega pleaded no contest in Van Nuys Superior Court to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of felony hit-and-run driving in the May 18 deaths of Daniel Torres DeJesus, 52, and Evangelina Marin, 23, both of North Hollywood. Marin’s husband, Felipe Marin, 23, was injured.

Ortega was driving south on Lankershim Boulevard near Cohasset Street when his pickup truck hit a car, careened toward a telephone pole and swerved onto the sidewalk. He continued driving for about 300 feet before crashing into a van, disabling his car. He was arrested by Los Angeles police, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said.

Ortega entered the no-contest plea to the charges and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol shortly before his trial was scheduled to begin, Dver said. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a second count of drunk driving, the prosecutor said.

If convicted of all the charges, Ortega could have received a maximum sentence of 30 years to life in prison, Dver said.

Prosecutors sought murder charges against Ortega in part because the defendant had two prior drunk-driving convictions. Other factors included the severity of the accident and the fact that he fled, Dver said.