Vincent D’Anna’s mother walked to the courtroom podium and leveled her gaze at the shackled man standing across the room in orange clothing stamped ‘prisoner.?
More than nine months after Vincent died, Eileen D’Anna-Mallett had an opportunity to publicly address the man accused of killing her son.
Ramon Felix Pineda, 26, an illegal Mexican immigrant, was sentenced last week to 28-70 years in prison after he was convicted of second-degree murder May 9.
According to testimony given during the weeklong trial, Pineda had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit Aug. 26 when he ran his 1992 Camaro into the motorcycle D’Anna was riding on Sashabaw Road in Independence Township.
D’Anna, 26, was knocked from his bike, trapped under the car and dragged 180 feet along the pavement.
‘I’m angry,? said D’Anna-Mallett as she addressed Pineda during a victim impact statement June 4 in Oakland County Circuit Court. ‘And I bet you just can’t guess how angry I am.?
D’Anna’s mother told Pineda she was on her way home when the accident occurred near DTE Energy Music Theatre.
‘I had to stop to let the ambulance out of the firehouse’me’not knowing it was my son,? she said. ‘If I had known, I’d be sitting where you are right now.?
D’Anna-Mallett spoke in a low, steady voice for several minutes.
‘You slaughtered my son,? she said. ‘You took everything from my son. He’ll never have a home and a wife and a baby, like you had.?
Pineda and his wife Dawn Pineda have a toddler-aged son.
Pineda was also sentenced to 10-15 years for driving under the influence of alcohol causing death, 40-60 months for failing to stop at the scene of an accident, 40-60 months for false application of title, and 93 days for driving while license suspended. The sentences will run concurrently, with credit for 283 days served.
Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Robert Novy said he was satisfied with the sentence.
‘It’s a good sentence,? Novy said, noting Pineda would be sent to the Michigan Department of Corrections, where he would be screened and quarantined before he was assigned to a state prison facility determined by the MDOC.
Before sentencing, Camille D’Anna-Leinbach also spoke, telling how she watched one brother ‘die bruised and convulsing,? as the other ‘cried over the body of his lifelong friend.?
‘It’s impossible to capture the magnitude of our loss with words,? she said. ‘My brother was a ray of light. He loved his family and adored his friends.?
D’Anna-Leinbach said she hoped Pineda would spend a very long time in prison.
‘He is a disgrace to my county,? she said. ‘He is a disgrace to his own country’and a disgrace to all humankind.?
Chief Judge Wendy Potts, who presided over the trial and handed down the sentence last week, told the family their comments were ‘moving and very well expressed.?
Potts said she gave the sentence a great deal of thought.
‘You never had a real license in your name, so you were never eligible to drive,? she told Pineda. ‘In addition, without a license, you were drinking. The actions testified to’show total disregard for the law and others on the road. You were a tremendous threat to every driver around you.?
Pineda, who showed little or no emotion during his appearance Wednesday, also had the opportunity to address the court before sentencing.
‘I want to apologize to his family for what happened,? he said, speaking through interpreter Maria Gialdi. ‘I’m not the kind of person they believe I am. I came here wanting to help my family and to work.?
Pineda entered the U.S. illegally in 1998.
Elias Escobedo, Pineda’s attorney, compared the case to that of Daniel Chase, an 18-year-old Lake Orion man recently sentenced to 8-15 years by Circuit Court Judge Rudy Nichols.
Chase, who was allegedly driving the wrong way on Lapeer Road with a blood alcohol level of .20, collided with a car driven by Sherry Burke in December 2006.
The 24-year-old Oxford resident died as a result of the accident, which occurred about 500 yards from where Chase was arrested’and placed on probation’for driving under the influence just two weeks prior.
‘My client’s actions are not in any way, shape, or form the type of conduct that warrants 450 months in state prison,? Escobedo said before the sentence was handed down.
He asked for a sentence no greater than 15 years.
‘It is in no way going to compensate the D’Anna family,? he continued, noting Pineda would at some point be returned to Mexico and wasn’t likely to see his young son again.
‘Only time will heal the vengeance, anger and resentment they feel toward this man; this man will lose everything he has, and maybe he should, I don’t know. Maybe he should.?
But D’Anna’s mother indicated the passage of time has only made her son’s absence more difficult.
‘The more time that goes by, the more I miss my son,? she said. ‘I want to see Vincent. I want to give him a hug and a kiss and watch him play with the dog, watch him grab a tall glass of milk to dunk his Nilla Wafers in’that’s what he liked to do.?
In addition to prison time, Pineda was ordered to pay restitution of more than $127,000 for funeral costs and insurance claims. The issue could be revisited at a later hearing.
As with any conviction, Pineda has automatic right to appeal.