A Bolivian who dodged deportation after multiple driving offenses now faces up to 70 years in prison for five felony convictions and the DUI-related felony murder of Sister Denise Mosier, a Benedictine nun

Carlos Abraham Martinelly Montano, now 24, left Prince William County Circuit Court in handcuffs after convictions of a third offense of drunken driving, two of malicious wounding, one of involuntary manslaughter and one of driving without a license. He pleaded not guilty to felony murder but was convicted on that count, which carries up to 40 years in prison. The Martinelly case galvanized public sentiment about crimes carried out by illegal immigrants and helped foment a crackdown throughout Virginia and other states on keeping arrested illegal immigrants incarcerated on federal detainers pending trial. After the verdict was announced, Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey A. Stewart stressed the need to make sure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining dangerous individuals until deportation so tragedies like this can be prevented in the future. He said that the whereabouts of some 4,000 illegal immigrants arrested in Prince William since 2007 and turned over to ICE are not publicly known. Martinelly, the father of two young children, had come to this county at 5 years old, according to his uncle, and had been detained by ICE after his second DUI conviction but was released. Martinelly's family members hugged one another and wept outside the courthouse after a hearing that for the first time produced graphic details of the head-on collision on a rural road that ended Sister Denise's life and seriously injured Sisters Charlotte Lange, 71, and Connie Ruth Lupton, 77. Stephen Lester testified that Martinelly was bearing down so fast toward him that he feared he would be rammed from behind. Instead, Lester testified, Martinelly's car slammed against the right side of a bridge and careened to the left side of the road, striking the oncoming sisters head-on. Investigators found 20 beer cans in Martinelly's car, including one that was still cold and partially full. Martinelly's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal threshold. Martinelly was convicted of both involuntary manslaughter and felony murder in Sister Denise's death, which defense lawyers unsuccessfully argued amounted to double jeopardy.