The Promised Update..... in Muddling Through As Best I Can

My last post I related that we had an appointment with the District Attorney regarding the drunken driver who cause the death of my son and daughter in law in May.
We met with the DA on Monday afternoon and it went well, he answered all my questions and was very helpful. It turns out that the young man, whose name is Alejandro Guzman-Lopez, was over 3 times the legal limit for intoxication. As of this time he is still in jail and will not be able to make bond for a couple of reasons. His bond is set at $600, 000.00, and in addition there is an ICE hold on him. ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) requires that he be held even if he should come up with the funds to make the bail amount and possibly flee the country, since he is here illegally.
He is currently charged with two counts of intoxicated manslaughter and failing to stop and render aid, as he was caught running from the scene of the accident on foot. They are planning to add aggravated assault with a motor vehicle pertaining to my granddaughters as well; also felony charges. The sum total of prison time possible for all charges would be nearly 60 years if he got full sentences for each, which I don’t expect to happen.
What I expect, and what I discussed with the District Attorney, is that the defense attorney will try to reach a plea agreement for a reduced sentence with a promise of no appeals, which is a common tactic. Having spent the majority of my adult life in law enforcement, I understand the realities of the situation.
I told them that I could live with anything between 30-40 years. In Texas, it would allow him to apply for parole after having served half his sentence. While this may sound generous on my part, it really isn’t.
Typically, offenders with lengthy sentences don’t make parole easily due to disciplinary infractions while incarcerated, gang affiliations, etc. Even if he should, recidivism rates run in the ninety-six percentile rate, so even if he got out, he would almost certainly not remain free.
I could have been more sympathetic if I had not also read transcripts of his calls from jail wherein he said he didn’t care and “f**k those people”. I will also be at every hearing he has for the rest of my life to insure that he knows that I am there. He will either grow a concsience or learn to hate the sight of my face.
We also had a hearing today on the girls’ custody. It went well, and I will update on that tomorrow or the next day. Suffice it to say that Pamala was in tears in court, we had Raina today, and Sunday Sienna will be here for the entire week, and will be able to attend church with me. We also have mediation on Wednesday next week for Raina and expect it to go well.
I shouldn’t take joy in someone else’s misery, but I confess I did. The woman has issues to say the least. She has, by her own actions, discredited herself in front of the court and now she has to deal with the consequences. It’s been very hard to walk a straight path and do things the right way, but it feels great to see my belief in “Do the next right thing” validated.
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, thoughts, and your prayers. It has helped me immensly.
I hope to once again soon to be able to post only positive words and move forward to happier times.