Man sentenced in fatal DUI crash
By Jana Wagoner
A 33-year-old Leesburg man will spend the next 12 years in prison for causing a fatal crash while driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.
Arturo Armando Martinez was sentenced Sept. 16 for the March 15 crash that killed Jeffrey Cooper, 52, of California.
Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge James H. Chamblin sentenced Martinez to 20 years in prison for aggravated involuntary manslaughter, and one year each for driving under the influence (Martinez's second in five years) and hit and run.
Chamblin suspended 10 years of the manslaughter sentence, and Martinez will be on probation for 20 years after his release in 2020. His license also was revoked, and he was ordered to pay restitution to Cooper's family for funeral expenses.
During the hearing, Cooper's fiancee, Sally Tompkins, and his sister, Jennifer Cooper Roy, testified about their loss.
Martinez shed tears and covered his mouth as Tompkins described Cooper as her best friend.
“He was my family and my home,” she said. “He was my protection, my safety.”
Tompkins told Martinez about the plans she and Cooper had to retire and travel.
“Now I have no plans, I have no peace, I have no rest,” she said. “Yet I forgive you.”
Roy described her brother as an “extraordinary man” and named several times he had helped friends, family and co-workers.
Just before Chamblin delivered the sentence, Martinez, who pleaded guilty on June 9, turned to Cooper's family and expressed remorse.
"It hurts me terribly what has happened and what I have caused,” he said through an interpretor. “I ask for your forgiveness.”
The incident took place at about 4:20 p.m. March 15 when Martinez, driving a Ford pickup truck on Route 7 west near Smith Circle in Ashburn, struck a Hyundai Sonata stopped at a red light, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.
Martinez then accelerated to continue on Route 7. When he approached the intersection of Janelia Farm Boulevard, the traffic signal turned red, and traffic stopped.
Martinez turned right onto Janelia Farm Boulevard, lost control of his truck, crossed the median, hit a highway sign and struck a Pontiac Grand Prix that was stopped on Janelia Farm Boulevard, waiting to make a left turn onto Route 7.
Cooper, the driver of the Grand Prix, died at the scene.
The impact pushed Cooper's car into a Lexus. The passengers in the Lexus suffered minor injuries.
Martinez had a blood alcohol level of .17, authorities said.