LOCAL

Involuntary manslaughter conviction tied to DWI

Garcia sentenced to 27 months in prison in death of his passenger

Ruidoso News Reports, Ruidoso News
  • Garcia admitted driving recklessly and under the influence

Paul Raymond Garcia, 20, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, was sentenced in federal court this week to 27 months in prison for his conviction on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Garcia will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

The logo of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Garcia was arrested in Jan. 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter. According to the complaint, Garcia killed a Mescalero Apache woman when he crashed his vehicle on March 23, 2015, on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County, that adjoins the village of Ruidoso.

At the time of the crash, Garcia was driving under the influence of alcohol, the information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Las Cruces stated. Garcia subsequently was indicted on the same charge on June 22, 2016.

On Nov. 16, 2016, Garcia pleaded guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim by driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol. Garcia acknowledged that the alcohol rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating the vehicle. 

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services and the New Mexico State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.