Repeat DUI Offender Gets 20 Years for 2 Deaths

A Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge sentenced a Beltsville, Md., woman Tuesday to 20 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving in a three-vehicle crash that killed two men last year.

Roy Lacayo, 34, of Washington, and 30-year-old Justo Rosario Jr., of Hyattsville, were involved in a minor accident on Riggs Road Feb. 1, 2010, and were exchanging contact information when 32-year-old Jenny Mate sideswiped one car and crashed into the other, killing both men at the scene, police said.

At the time, Mate was drunk – well over the legal limit with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15. Furthermore, she wasn’t supposed to be driving sober, either. Mate was awaiting trial on a DUI charge. That after two previous convictions.

In court Tuesday, the victims’ families told the judge how their lives have changed and argued that Mate should get the maximum sentence of 21 years.

Christie Lacayo said life without her husband is like living in a nightmare she can't wake up from. Every day, the younger kids ask for their dad. Now, she has justice for his death, she said.

“It's hard trying to make it and be strong, and I'm trying to be strong for them and just keep my faith in God,” she said.

The judge called Mate’s record problematic, noting convictions for other crimes, too.

“I understand that everybody makes mistakes and they need another chance, but she made too many mistakes,” said Justo Rosario Jr.’s sister Angela.

Mate apologized to both families at the sentencing. The mother of a 5-year-old, Mate is pregnant with her second child. She had been free on bond until.

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