SAN DIEGO — A man who crashed a car while fleeing U.S. Border Patrol agents in Southern California, killing one of his passengers, has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Two people were critically injured in the crash on Christmas Day 2021 when Kevin Antonio Quevedo-Moncada of Lake Forest lost control during a pursuit and crashed into a tree in eastern San Diego County, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The 23-year-old was charged with transportation of aliens resulting in death and injury.
He pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced Friday.
According to prosecutors, the defendant picked up three people who entered the U.S. without authorization and were hiding in the Otay Mountain Wilderness, just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
After Border Patrol agents attempted to pull his car over, Quevedo-Moncada drove off erratically through a campground, according to officials. He rammed a Border Patrol vehicle before reaching speeds of more than 90 mph and eventually crashing down an embankment, prosecutors said.
One of his passengers, 52-year-old Gaudencio Gerardo Luna-Vasquez, died at the scene. Two others were hospitalized.
According to court documents, he was to be paid $2,000 for the smuggling operations and had previously transported people who had entered the U.S. without permission.
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