Man suspected in deadly street racing crash had conviction for smuggling marijuana across border

A man suspected in a deadly street racing crash that killed two young brothers two weeks ago was deported in 2012 after he was caught smuggling 44 packages of marijuana across the U.S. border from Mexico, court records show.

Josue Leyva-Gallegos, 30, was headed to Perris through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with a valid U.S. permanent resident card in May 2012 when he was sent for further inspection by a computer-generated referral, according to a probable cause statement filed in federal court.

An X-ray of his car showed anomalies in the gas tank. Authorities requested a drug-sniffing dog, which alerted to the gas cap opening. In the gas tank, a Customs and Border Protection officer found roughly 94 pounds of marijuana. Leyva-Gallegos later told authorities he had been hired to smuggle marijuana into the country for $800.

He pleaded guilty two months later to one count of importing marijuana.

After his conviction, his legal status was revoked and he was ordered removed by an immigration judge in October 2012, according to Sarah Rodriguez, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was sent to Mexico the next day.

At some point, Rodriguez said, he returned to the U.S. illegally.

The deadly crash occurred May 15 after Leyva-Gallegos began street racing with his cousin, Ricardo Zuniga.

Zuniga told authorities that he pulled up next to his cousin at an intersection in Perris that evening to tell him to meet up at his home to hang out. But Leyva-Gallegos looked back at him and asked, “You ready?” before counting to three.

He knew this meant his cousin wanted to race.

Moments later, the pair hit the gas. Each took off at a high rate of speed, authorities said, with Zuniga driving on the wrong side of the road.

Soon, Zuniga was facing an oncoming car and was unable to swerve out of the way. His Honda Accord collided head-on with a Nissan Versa carrying three brothers on their way to pick up their sisters from school. The younger two, Dominick and Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez, 6 and 8, were killed.

Leyva-Gallegos fled the scene. A week ago, the U.S. Marshals Service found him more than a thousand miles away in Kent, Wash, where he was trying to register a vehicle at a local DMV office.

On Thursday, ICE filed a detainer — a request that local authorities detain an individual for an additional 48 hours — with the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle.

Leyva-Gallegos is now awaiting extradition to California on two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, charges that carry a sentencing enhancement for fleeing the scene of a crime, according to Riverside County court records. His bail was set at $10 million.

Zuniga was charged with two counts of murder, along with one count each of driving without a license and failing to carry proof of insurance, records show. He is being held on $2-million bail and has pleaded not guilty.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek