- Maria E. Romero sentenced to two years after her SUV struck and killed Emilio Perez
By Ulysses Arn -
One outrage after another is the best way to describe the case of Emilio Perez and the illegal immigrant woman Maria Romero, who killed him on I-88 last year.
Romero was driving her SUV one night near Joslin, IL when she struck and killed 17 year-old Emilio Perez of Villa Park after he had ran out of gas and was walking towards an exit ramp.
For more than six months, Romero hid from authorities and she and her husband kept track of the investigation as police and the Perez family searched high and low for any information leading to the person behind the wheel of the car that struck Emilio.
Last September, Romero was arrested and the SUV that killed Emilio was recovered in Rockford, she has since that time been in police custody for both the hit-and-run and a federal immigration detainer due to Romero's unlawful presence in the United States.
On Tuesday, Romero pleaded guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an accident and was sentenced by a Rock Island County Judge to two years prison, with a year of supervised release, as well as credit for the 200+ plus days she has already been in custody; much of it in federal custody at the McHenry county jail waiting for her deportation hearing.
That is all the more punishment Maria Romero is getting for killing a college bound teenager, whose family legally immigrated to this country years ago from Communist Cuba.
A young life full of joy and promise was snuffed out in the blink of an eye by someone who had no business being in the United States in the first place and all the more punishment this killer, this coward who refused to call for help or render any aid, this ingrate is going to receive.
Why the Rock Island county prosecutor didn't seek more severe charges, like vehicular manslaughter, is beyond me.
Why only two years, less with time served, for killing someone is beyond me.
That all this happened because of politicians from both parties not having any interest in enforcing our nation's immigration laws, that I get sadly, and only fuels my outrage over what happened to Emilio and continues to happen to the Perez family.
