SALINAS—A Watsonville man who was driving drunk when he killed two people last year will spend eight years and eight months in prison, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni announced.
Joel Gonzalez, 22, pleaded no contest to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury.
According to Pacioni, Gonzalez was driving south on San Miguel Canyon Road on Sept. 26, 2020, just after 10pm when he attempted to pass a line of five cars that were driving in front of him.
Gonzalez failed to safely negotiate the passing maneuver and crashed head-on into a northbound Nissan Versa. The two occupants of the Nissan, Heidi Jo Debellotte, 53, and Kristen Debellotte, 58, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Gonzalez and four passengers in his vehicle were injured.
A breath test showed that Gonzalez had a blood alcohol concentration of .13.
