Driver in Deaths of 3 Sentenced

A Northridge man who drove a car into a power pole while drunk, killing three teenage passengers, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in state prison, according to officials.

Carlos Lopez, 24, had pleaded no contest to three counts of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The accident occurred last April at the intersection of Chatsworth Street and Woodley Avenue in Granada Hills. Lopez was speeding at the time of the accident, police said.

The sentence was imposed by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Warren Greene, who under a plea bargain could have given Lopez up to eight years in prison or let him off with probation. Lopez had no prior record.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Mills said she believed the four-year sentence was too light.

“I would have liked to have seen more time given to him,” said Mills, “but I don’t think that what the judge decided was out of the question.

“The judge was taking into consideration the man’s age, no prior record and the fact that everyone in the car was likely drinking,” she said.

A two-member Department of Corrections board that reviewed the case gave a split recommendation to the judge, with one proposing probation and the other suggesting prison time, Mills said.

Mills said that if Lopez is on good behavior in prison, he will probably serve only about half of the imposed sentence.

The three teenagers who were killed were Ignacio Sanchez Lopez, 17, the defendant’s cousin; Juan Montes, 15, his brother-in-law; and Israel Alvarez Martinez, 19.