SANTA ANA : Drunk Driver Gets 10 Years in Teen’s Death

A Tustin man was sentenced Friday to a maximum term of 10 years in prison for killing a teen-ager while driving drunk.

Rene Castorena, 20, had a blood-alcohol content of .19%--more than twice the legal limit--when he crashed into Allison Saliture’s vehicle on March 26. The Cypress teen died several days later of injuries.

Deputy Public Defender Hector Chaparro had asked the judge for a more lenient sentence, arguing that his client’s actions were an aberration and noting that Castorena has no prior criminal history. But Orange County Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore handed down the maximum sentence, as requested by the prosecutor.

Saliture, 16, was a popular high school student, and her twin sister, Jennifer, remains grief-stricken over her death, according to a sentencing report prepared by the Orange County Probation Department.

John Saliture, the girls’ father, said in the report that he believed Castorena deserves a “life sentence” and noted that the defendant was not only driving without insurance, but also an underage drinker who was in the country illegally.

Chaparro said he believes the state’s anti-immigrant tenor and public pressure resulted in an overly harsh sentence, and noted that first-time offenders with no history of drunk driving are rarely treated so severely.

“I don’t believe this is justified,” he said.

Authorities estimate that Castorena was driving as fast as 100 m.p.h. before the crash took place. A jury convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and drunk driving.