EL PASO, Texas (AP) — An ex-sheriff's deputy in West Texas must serve 17 years in prison for a 2012 drunken driving wreck that killed a man who was changing a flat tire.

Raymundo Carranza was sentenced Tuesday in El Paso. The 49-year-old Carranza on Monday was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter.

Carranza, who was a 17-year veteran of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, was off-duty when his pickup truck struck 26-year-old Richard Lopez. The victim died at the scene.

Records show that Carranza, three hours after the crash, still had a blood alcohol level exceeding the legal limit for driving.

He resigned as a deputy shortly after the accident.

 

 

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