‘Reckless driving in a 20,000-pound truck’: Trucker with no CDL sentenced for killing 5 members of a family while driving ‘Frankenstein’ vehicle with faulty brakes

A Colorado trucker will spend over a decade in prison for a tragic highway crash that killed a family of five in June 2022.

In March, Jesus Puebla, 28, was convicted by Weld County jurors on each one of the 10 counts filed against him in December 2022.

During the fatal accident on Interstate 25, Puebla was driving a box truck containing U.S. Postal Service mail without a commercial driver’s license. He rear-ended Aaron Godinez, 20, his fiancee Halie Everts, 20, the couple’s 3-month-old daughter Tessleigh Godinez, and Aaron’s parents Emiliano Godinez, 51, and Christina Godinez, 47. The truck was traveling some 76 mph while the victims had essentially come to a stop for traffic — and were decelerating between 6 mph and 10 mph.

At the time of the incident, the Godinez family was traveling back to their home state of Wyoming, the DA’s office said in a press release.

The defendant was charged with one count of vehicular homicide per victim, one count of vehicular assault for a man who was injured but not killed, one count of careless driving, one count of reckless driving, and two commercial safety-related violations.

On Friday, Weld County District Judge Allison Esser sentenced Puebla to two years in prison for each homicide conviction and one year in prison for the assault conviction, according to a courtroom report by Denver-based NBC affiliate KUSA. Those sentences will be served consecutively or one after another. For counts 7-9, the judge sentenced Puebla to 90 days in prison, concurrently, or at the same time, but credited his 93 days in pretrial detention — effectively ruling them served. For count 10, the defendant was given a $100 fine.

“These families have had to deal with the trauma and this devastating loss every single day,” Deputy District Attorney Yvette Guthrie said in a statement. “Absolutely nothing that this defendant did the day of this tragic crash was an accident. This wasn’t road rage; this was traffic terrorism.”

During the trial, the defendant and his attorneys unsuccessfully sought to shift the blame to Caminantes Trucking, the owner of the box truck, for having Puebla drive a “Frankenstein truck” with brakes that were out of alignment. A Colorado State Patrol investigation confirmed the brakes on the truck were not working properly.

Prosecutors countered that eyewitness testimony confirmed Puebla’s “driving was horrific” and was bound to place lives in danger even if the brakes on the box truck had not been faulty.

“He did not brake until he hit this family,” Guthrie previously said. “We know when he braked because there are skid marks. It’s that simple.”

Family members of the victim and defendant spoke during the emotional sentencing hearing.

“Five amazing lives were taken on June 13th that changed everyone’s life that day,” Emiliano and Christina’s daughter said, according to the DA’s office. “My mom and dad were the best parents any child could wish for. I’ll never get another day with them. I wish there was an opportunity that Heaven could have visiting hours because I miss them every day.”

Norberto Puebla Gallegos, the defendant’s brother, said Puebla is not a criminal who deserves a lengthy prison sentence — and noted that the defendant is also the father of two children.

“Jesus is a hardworking man who was just trying to make a living for his family,” his brother said, according to the TV station. “He is a good person who would never mean to hurt anyone.”

The judge acknowledged the issue with the truck’s brakes but still had sharp words for the defendant for how he was driving that fateful day.

“This was reckless driving in a 20,000-pound truck — you had a responsibility to our community,” Esser told Puebla, according to WUSA. “There was never going to be a fender bender.”

The defendant, for his part, expressed contrition.

“I’m so sorry this happened, and I never meant to hurt anyone,” Puebla told the judge.

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