11 life sentences

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court judge on Wednesday sentenced Juan Manuel Alvarez to serve 11 consecutive life sentences in prison after he was convicted in June for causing a deadly 2005 train derailment in Glendale.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders told Alvarez, 29, that he showed no remorse for his actions in the derailment, the deadliest train crash in Metrolink’s history.

Pounders denied the possibility of parole and sentenced Alvarez to also serve two years in prison for arson.

“You are responsible for what you did,” he told Alvarez.

On Jan. 26, 2005, Alvarez drenched his Jeep Cherokee with gasoline and parked it perpendicular to train tracks that bisect Glendale from Los Angeles.

Shortly before 6 a.m., an oncoming Metrolink train hit the Jeep, causing the train to derail and hit two other trains.

Eleven people died and 184 passengers and crew members suffered injuries.

Pounders ordered Alvarez to pay $92,019 in restitution to the victims’ families.

“I don’t believe Mr. Alvarez cares about them [the victims and their families] at all,” Pounders said.

Pounders told Alvarez that if he could impose a sentence of “forever” on him, “I would give it to you.”

A jury on June 26 found the former construction worker guilty of 11 counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson.

They also ruled July 15 that Alvarez should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Alvarez’s attorneys told Pounders they had already filed an appeal of his conviction.

Family members were given an opportunity to speak to Alvarez in court.

Robert Parent told Alvarez that his life changed after he discovered his brother, William Parent, 53, of Simi Valley, was killed in the crash.

“This was a tragedy that did not have to happen,” Parent said.

Parent said Alvarez had to be held accountable for his actions.

“Prison is not a friendly place,” said Parent, a former prison guard. “The inmates don’t have any respect for what he did.”

Elaine Siebers, sister of William Parent, asked Alvarez to look at her as she spoke to him.

The seated Alvarez turned and faced her.

“You did a very bad and stupid thing,” Siebers told him.

“You killed and injured our loved ones and mentally crippled the ones you left behind.”

Siebers told Alvarez that he should have received medication to help deal with his emotional instability.

“Many of us have to take legal drugs just to get through the days,” she said. “I tend to stay indoors now, and I am afraid of people.”

Alvarez ruined his life and his family’s life, Siebers said.

“Juan, you changed my life forever,” she said. “You need to stay in jail, so you don’t hurt or kill anyone else.”

Henry Romero, nephew of 53-year-old Leonard Romero, told Alvarez that during the trial he used a “poor-me card.”

Alvarez had tried to commit suicide after his marriage crumbled, and he started taking drugs, defense attorneys said.

“I wish the most miserable life as possible,” Henry Romero told Alvarez.

Todd McKeoun, brother of Scott McKeoun, told Alvarez that he robbed his brother’s children the opportunity to know him.

“I miss my brother,” he said.

“This is not the way to say goodbye to my brother.”

Lien Wiley, wife of 58-year-old Don Wiley, told Alvarez that she forgave him.

“I forgave him because he’s just like many of us. He thought the train was safe and the train wouldn’t hurt him,” she said.

Wiley holds Metrolink responsible for the derailment because she said they did not make the trains strong enough to withstand a crash and protect its passengers.

“I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” Wiley said.

She told Alvarez that every day she waits and listens for the garage door to open and her husband to walk through the door.

“I don’t want any more widows or children without a father,” Lien Wiley said.

Deputy Dist. Attys. John Monaghan and Cathryn Brougham said Alvarez set up the train derailment to get his wife back and possibly collect insurance money from the crash.

“His actions are literally going to affect a couple of generations,” Monaghan said.