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Officials Say I-90 Crash Driver Is Illegal Alien

Woman Faces 195 Years

POSTED: 5:52 pm CDT August 23, 2003
UPDATED: 9:30 pm CDT August 24, 2003

The driver of a car in which two people died two weeks ago near Janesville is an illegal alien.

The immigration service wants Maribel Sotelo-Solis, 24, held by authorities.

She was originally charged with two counts of homicide by the negligent use of a vehicle, but prosecutors have upgraded and added new charges.

Sotelo could have faced up 20 years in prison, but now she faces 195 after prosecutors upgraded the charges to two counts of first-degree reckless homicide and added three counts of reckless injury on Friday.

Rock County officials said new charges were added after the extent of injuries to others hurt in the crash came to light and the homicide charges were upgraded after more complete accident reports were finished.

Sotelo was making an illegal u-turn when she was broadsided. Sotelo is also accused of second-offense driving without a valid license and failing to restrain the child.

Yesenia Antonia Montesdeoca, 2, who is the child of a frend, and Anna Sotelo-Solis, 27, who is Sotelo's sister, were killed in the crash and eight others -- most not wearing seat belts, were injured when a car Sotelo was driving crossed the median and crashed into a pickup truck and minivan on I-90 between Wisconsin 11 and U.S. 14 around 2:45 p.m.

Montesdeoca and Sotelo-Solis were ejected from the 1994 Chevy Corsica and died at the accident scene, and six other people were taken to a hospital with injuries, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Officials said there were seven people in the girls' car and five were ejected when the vehicle crossed the median. They were not wearing seat belts and the young child was not in a child-safety seat, officials said. They were on their way to visit relatives.

Darren A. Reichert, 33, of Jeffereson, who was driving a 1987 Chevy pickup truck was seriously injured in the crash. He wasn't wearing a seat belt either, officials said.

Shaskikant Bhatt, 68, of Schaumburg was driving the 1999 Nissan Quest minivan with a woman and a child in a car seat as passengers. They suffered cuts and abrasions. Both adults were wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said.

Sotelo told police she missed her exit and tried a u-turn in a construction zone, but the paved area where it happened is not a turnaround. It's a section where traffic will be re-routed later during the road project.

"It's a very difficult manuver," said Lt. Jeff Lorentz of the State Patrol. "For someone to take it upon themselves at a dead stop, it's really tough. She thought she was allowed to make the turn there because she saw arrows on the highway. The arrows on the highway were actually to move over to the new temporary lanes."

Sotelo's bond was set at $25,000. She is due back in court Monday for a preliminary hearing.




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