Drug User Gets 6 Months In Fatal Crash

An Anaheim man involved in car crash that killed the son of an Orange County drug treatment pioneer has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered into a drug dependency program after pleading guilty to being under the influence of cocaine.

Jose Enrique Sanchez, 41, also was put on probation for five years following his guilty pleas last Thursday to the drug charge and to driving on a suspended license.

The accident last Oct. 30 killed Mark Allen Antonowitsch, a former Army tank commander in the Gulf War. He was the son of Jim Antonowitsch, founder of the Oasis Treatment Center in Anaheim.

Jim Antonowitsch has criticized the legal system and state law over what he calls lenient penalties for drug-abusing drivers.

At the time of the collision, there was a warrant out for Sanchez’s arrest for failing to attend a court-ordered drug treatment program stemming from a previous arrest for cocaine use.

Sanchez tested positive for cocaine after the crash, at the intersection of Olive Street and Lincoln Avenue in Anaheim. Anaheim police could not determine whether Sanchez or Antonowitsch ran the red light. Sanchez told police he had a green light.

Sanchez was not charged with felonies of vehicular manslaughter or driving under the influence of drugs. Instead, he was accused of a misdemeanor, being under the influence.

Antonowitsch’s death still factored into the judge’s sentence, said defense attorney Amador Corona.

“It was something that was on everyone’s mind,” Corona said. “The sentence was a little heavier than I wanted, but given the fact that there was a death involved, it was fair.”

Anaheim Deputy City Atty. Jeffrey Tobin, the prosecutor in the case, said Sanchez will begin serving his jail sentence in two weeks.