San Diego DUI news

A man who drove drunk and slammed into another vehicle at a Mira Mesa stoplight, killing a woman and seriously injuring two men, was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison and will be deported once he gets out.

Homer Namoca, 39, who is originally from the Philippines, pleaded guilty Oct. 11 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of 40-year-old Jenily Mendoza.

Namoca, who worked two jobs, had a day off from one job Aug. 21 and had been home drinking. He fell asleep, then got in his SUV and rushed to work around midnight to go his second job as a security guard, said prosecutor George Modlin.

According to police, Namoca's Toyota Highlander crashed -- at around 50 mph and apparently without braking -- into the rear of a Toyota RAV4 stopped at a stoplight at Mira Mesa Boulevard and Camino Ruiz.

Mendoza was sitting in the backseat.

Two men in the RAV4, Francis Barangan and Ricky Periarce, were seriously injured.

Namoca's blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent two hours after the crash, almost twice the legal limit, authorities said.

The defendant faced up to 10 years behind bars, but San Diego criminal defense attorney Domenic Lombardo successfully argued for a four-year term.

This fine San Diego criminal defense lawyer told Judge Stephanie Sontag that Namoca was a hard-working family man from the Philippines with no prior record who emigrated to the U.S. after a 22-year wait.

Because of his citizenship status, however, Namoca will be deported once he is finished serving his sentence, San Diego criminal defense attorney Lombardo said.

The San Diego criminal defense attorney said Namoca had just gotten his driver's license, hadn't driven before and didn't see the victims' car stopped at a stoplight.

Namoca, a father of three, wept uncontrollably throughout the hearing.

"I'm very, very sorry for what I have done," he said. "I don't want to hurt anybody."

Speaking to the victims and their families, Namoca said, "I will not forget the things I have done. I am so sorry."

The judge sympathized with the victims, who wanted Namoca to get the maximum 10 years behind bars.

Sontag said the crash was not an intentional act, but Namoca drank and got into a car and drove, and that was intentional.

"The fact is you were a sitting duck. There was nothing you could do," the judge told the surviving victims.

Sontag said the four-year sentence was appropriate because of the suffering Namoca will endure in prison and the fact that he will returned to the Philippines once he gets out.

San Diego DUI / Drunk Driving / criminal defense lawyer Lombardo should be applauded.