Man sentenced for injury to city worker

David Kihara

Friday, June 24, 2005 | 11:08 a.m.

The man who hit and seriously injured a North Las Vegas city worker with his vehicle was sentenced to 10 months behind bars Thursday after pleading guilty to failing to pay attention to the road and driving without a license.

North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Stephen Dahl sentenced Jesus Cervantes Cano, 20, to six months for failure to pay attention and 120 days for driving without a license for the April 12 accident that caused Anthony Borruto, 50, to lose both his legs above the knee.

Dahl also gave Cano 72 days credit for time served. Cano has remained behind bars since the accident.

The sentencing followed emotional testimony from the victim and his family, who described how the dramatic downturn their lives have taken since Borruto was injured.

Borruto was working a morning shift at Joe Kneip Park when Cano, who was driving to work, struck him with his car. Cano allegedly took his eyes off the road briefly to eat a breakfast he had packed when he hit Borruto.

Borruto, who broke down in tears, told the court Thursday he has contemplated suicide.

"People tell me I'm lucky because I'm still alive. I wish I did die because this isn't me," said Borruto, who testified from his wheelchair. "Just overdose me," he pleaded.

Borruto also directed his rage toward Cano, who was sitting less than 20 feet from him at the defendants' table.

"I heard you had 72 days (in prison). That's nice. I got 72 days plus that I look at the ceiling," he said. "I ain't going to forget you."

Cano, who remained mostly silent throughout the sentencing, expressed regret over the accident.

"I'm real sorry for what happened," said Cano. "I never meant to hurt him or make his life miserable."

Any words of contrition on Cano's part, however, fell on deaf ears. Borruto said the sentence was light compared to the suffering he has had to endure since the accident.

"I got my legs off and he only gets 10 months?" Borruto asked after the sentencing. "No one wants to get too strict in Las Vegas."

Borruto, who was a North Las Vegas Parks and Recreation maintenance worker, said he worried constantly that he wouldn't be able to work again.

"No one wants to hire a cripple," he said. "What am I now?"

Various family members testified to the hardship Borruto has suffered since the accident. His son Christopher had harsh words for Cano and the 10-month sentence Dahl handed down.

"Nothing compares to what my father has had to go through," he said.

Borruto's wife Nancy, who was also in tears throughout much of the sentencing, said Borruto is currently taking various pain killers such as morphine to ease the pain, and even though the accident occurred more than two months ago he is still in agony.

"I don't know how much more pain he can take," she said. "The physical pain he has endured is not to be believed."

Dahl, when handing down the sentence, said that the vehicle accidents are so commonplace in North Las Vegas that most people don't realize how devastating the outcome could be. He called the amount of accidents "a crisis."

He said that to Cano's credit, he stayed at the scene of the accident and called 911. Cano's attorney, Joel Mann, said previously that Cano placed a call to 911 and the call was documented.

Dahl also said that when Cano took his eyes off the road, he did what just about every driver does.

"I've talked on my cell phone while driving my car," he said. "I'm changing my ways."

There have been many high profile accidents in Las Vegas recently. Last March, Veronica Schmidt killed Angelica Jimenez, 14, Raquel Jimenez, 16, Reggie Williams, 16 and Samantha Allen, 36, after she lost control of her Ford Explorer and plowed into a bus stop.

Last month Gov. Kenny Guinn signed a law creating a misdemeanor crime of vehicular manslaughter -- when a driver causes the death of another person through simple negligence such as talking on a cell phone, eating or putting on makeup. If convicted under the new law, drivers face up to six months in jail and suspension of their licenses for one year.