“I ask that they forgive me.” Luis Garcia-Diaz sentenced to 30 years for US 20 DUI crash that killed six
Ariel Jensen
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Luis Garcia-Diaz, 27, was sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison Tuesday for a deadly drunk driving crash that killed six people last year on U.S. Highway 20.
Luis Garcia-Diaz was sentenced to a unified term of six years fixed and nine years indeterminate on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, with the sentences running consecutively, for a total of up to 30 years. The maximum sentence was handed down by District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. in a Bonneville County courtroom.
Breaking down in tears as the sentence was delivered, Garcia-Diaz addressed the victims’ families via a Zoom conference before the hearing concluded. “I want to ask forgiveness of the families for the accident,” he said through a translator. “I know that every day I think of your families. I ask God for them, and that they forgive me.”
The tragic crash occurred on May 18, 2024, on U.S. Highway 20 near the Lindsay Boulevard exit in Idaho Falls. According to court documents, Garcia-Diaz was driving a Ram pickup with a blood alcohol level of 0.192% when his truck struck a Chevrolet van carrying 15 passengers.
The six victims included the van’s driver and five passengers. The passengers were confirmed to be agricultural workers from Mexico who were in the U.S. on H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker visas, according to a report from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Garcia-Diaz was originally charged with six counts of vehicular manslaughter, along with felony charges of driving under the influence, causing great bodily harm. He formally altered his plea in June, entering a guilty plea to the two vehicular manslaughter charges.