Probation sentence for deadly driver 'slap on wrist,' victims' loved ones say
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Valley family is now left to cope with a court ruling while the man who killed three of their loved ones walks free on probation.
"Justice was not served in this case," Lucia Ochoa said.
She believes the system failed her goddaughter, Emily, her boyfriend, Mariano, and the couple's unborn baby. The three died in a September 2022 crash along Highway 99 near McKinley Avenue in West Central Fresno.
"At the time of impact, what it caused was her car to catapult into the air," Ochoa said.
Investigators say Eugene Roebuck was driving drunk. He pleaded no contest to two counts of manslaughter in June of last year.
His victims' families packed the courtroom during sentencing last month. They pushed for the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
The judge handed down 12 years of probation.
"I'm angry with how the system is being interpreted," Ochoa said. "The judge was the only one with the power to make a change."
The judge used his discretion to sentence Roebuck. He seemed swayed by the defense attorney who highlighted Roebuck's struggles with mental health and said his client felt extreme remorse.
"There is no sentence this court can impose to make things right," Fresno County Superior Court Charles Lee said.
Ochoa disagrees.
"What I wanted him to do was send a message to teens, like my nieces and nephews, that this is something we're not going to accept. It's not OK to drink and drive," she said.
Instead, Ochoa says Roebuck got a slap on the wrist while she got a slap in the face.
"For me, it's not just a slap, it's a dagger because I have to live with the sentence for life that my niece and Mariano are gone," she said.
With Roebuck now out of jail, Ochoa hopes he views himself as an example and creates positive change.
Ochoa says she wants to see reforms that would allow for harsher punishments for first-time DUI offenders.
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