Saying Friday that a man's death incurred a debt that must be paid, East Fork Justice of the Peace Tom Perkins sentenced the driver in a fatal accident to spend 60 days in jail.
Daniel Delgadillo, 22, received a suspended 180 days on a single count of vehicular manslaughter in the June 5, 2010, death of Michael A. Lombardo IV, 24.
Lombardo was a passenger in the vehicle Delgadillo was driving that afternoon when it and a pickup collided near Pine Nut and East Valley roads. The pickup, driven by Ryan Moglich, 17, pulled out of a church parking lot with the intention of turning left. The Nevada Highway Patrol report said the accident occurred because Delgadillo was travelling at a minimum of 88 mph and that he changed lanes as the two vehicles approached one another.
Saying a Nevada Highway Patrol report revealed that Delgadillo was driving 88 mph when the accident occurred, District Attorney Mark Jackson said he has been talking about the case since first meeting Lombardo's father the week after the accident.
"I was surprised to learn the results of the report," Jackson said of the NHP accident investigation that was concluded on Oct. 19, 2010. "I talked to every member of the Major Accident Investigation Team and asked them how someone could pull out of a private driveway and not be charged with failure to yield."
Jackson argued that the distance between the two vehicles was covered so rapidly that Moglich didn't see Delgadillo coming.
The resulting accident threw Lombardo from the vehicle, killing him, and resulted in serious injuries to Delgadillo and another passenger.
Jackson said Lomardo's father pleaded with him not to charge Delgadillo with a felony in the case.
The prosecutor said that if it were up to him, Delgadillo would never drive a vehicle again.
Defense attorney Derrick Lopez said reports conducted by the NHP have been challenged, and that his client has accepted that he was speeding and that he was partially responsible for the death of his friend.
"It's bad enough when someone has died when you didn't know them," Lopez said. "How much greater is the burden when it's someone you loved."
Delgadillo said he held his friend as he died at the scene of the accident.
"He literally died in my arms," he said. "After the accident I talked with Mikey's dad and asked him if he hated me. He gave me a hug. I know the Lombardo family knows how sorry I am."
