Man facing at least 10 years in prison for July 4 DUI deaths

Kim Smith

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty in connection with a July 4 accident that claimed the lives of two local women and seriously injured a 12-year-old girl.

Antonio Aguayo, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence resulting in substantial harm or death and one count of leaving the scene of an accident.

Aguayo has until April 24 to decide if he wants to accept a sentence offered to him by Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker or if wants to take his chances with District Judge John McGroarty.

Booker has offered Aguayo a deal in which he would receive concurrent terms of eight to 20 years on the DUIs and a two- to 10-year sentence on the leaving the scene of the accident charge that would have to be served after the sentence on the DUI charges.

In other words, if Aguayo accepts the state's deal, he would face 10 to 30 years in prison.

If he allows the judge to sentence him, Aguayo would face two to 20 years on each DUI charge and two to 15 years on the leaving the scene of the accident charge. That could come to a 55-year sentence if the judge, after hearing arguments from Booker and reading a pre-sentence report from the probation department, decided to give him consecutive sentences instead of a mix of concurrent and consecutive sentences.

According to police, the car Aguayo was driving on July 4 jumped a sidewalk and went into a yard, hitting three people in a family celebrating Independence Day.

Neighbors held Aguayo until police arrived. Blanca Machado, 52, died at the accident scene. Her daughter-in-law, Norma Machado, 24, died at University Medical Center and Erika Fernandez, the older woman's granddaughter, had to be rushed into surgery, but survived.

Toxicology tests showed Aguayo had a blood alcohol content of 0.16. The level in Nevada for proving drunken driving is 0.10.

Aguayo's decision will likely be based on the pre-sentence investigation by the Division of Parole and Probation, which will recommend a sentence based on his background, criminal history and other factors.

McGroarty scheduled Aguayo's sentencing for April 28.

Aguayo is represented by Deputy Public Defender Elizabeth Quillin.