Driver Gets 10 Years in Death

A Camarillo man with a criminal and drug-abuse record dating back to his teen-age years was sentenced to 10 years in state prison Friday for the hit-and-run death of a Simi Valley city official who was killed while riding his bicycle in June.

The sentence was imposed by Judge Lawrence Storch as a dozen friends and relatives of Steven Sugimoto listened silently and brushed away tears in Ventura County Superior Court.

Daniel Oseguera, 28, also listened with head bowed throughout most of the proceedings. Oseguera pleaded guilty in October to charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony hit-and-run in the accident that killed Sugimoto as he was bicycling west of Moorpark.

Sugimoto, 28, was assistant Simi Valley city planner. His brother, Michael, said after the sentencing that he was pleased by the length of the sentence, adding: “We’re happy for every day we keep him off the streets.”

Earlier, Michael Sugimoto had personally appealed to the judge for a stiff sentence.

“My parents are still in shock at Steven’s death,” he said, speaking in a low voice that sometimes broke.

Michael Sugimoto also showed Storch photographs of his brother, and of a memorial placed at his grave by co-workers. He described a caring man who had wanted to marry and have children. Steven Sugimoto had been the best man at a friend’s wedding only a day before the accident, his brother added.

His brother loved to cycle and had won several cycling competitions, Sugimoto told the court.

Oseguera was on parole for a felony hit-and-run, auto theft and burglary at the time of the accident and has a criminal record dating back to age 16, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kim George Gibbons, who prosecuted the case.

Gibbons had asked Storch to impose the maximum 12-year sentence in the case, but Deputy Public Defender William McGuffey asked for a lighter term, saying Oseguera had expressed remorse for his actions and is aware that he will have to carry the burden of the accident for the rest of his life.

Storch acknowledged the loss of a “dynamic young person” as he weighed the decision, but decided against sentencing Oseguera to the maximum term. He said he took into consideration the fact that Oseguera pleaded guilty and “spared the family and taxpayers the agony and expense of a court trial.”

Steven Sugimoto was bicycling west along the paved shoulder of California 118 about 4:15 p.m. June 10 when Oseguera approached from the rear in a 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass, said Gibbons.

Witnesses told investigators that Oseguera was speeding and passing cars on the right when he hit Sugimoto, throwing him to the ground, Gibbons said. Sugimoto suffered massive head and internal injuries and died later at Pleasant Valley Hospital, Gibbons said.

Oseguera sped away after the accident, and police chased him for 5 1/2 miles to Lewis Road in Somis, when the owner of the car, 30-year-old David Rojas of Oxnard, grabbed the wheel and asked Oseguera to stop, Gibbons said.

Tests taken nearly two hours afterward showed that Oseguera had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17%, more than twice the legal 0.08% limit, Gibbons said. But he said there was no evidence Oseguera had used drugs, despite his admission to police that he had injected heroin an hour before the accident.

Oseguera will be eligible for parole in four years, said Gibbons, who added that he was happy with the judge’s decision.