Scott Gardner
Tina Gardner
Ramiro Gallegos
Illegal immigrant pleads guilty to murder in drunken driving case
An illegal immigrant is going to prison for driving drunk and killing a Mt. Holly man. Ramiro Gallegos had a lengthy record before he hit Scott Gardner's car last July in Brunswick County. That record included at least three, DWI convictions and two deportations.
Friday, Gallegos plead guilty to four charges including murder.
<b
r />Twenty-six-year-old Ramiro Gallegos, chained and shackled, faced charges of driving drunk and killing Scott Gardner a father of two. Several friends and members of Gardner's famil
y held back tears as they faced the man who not only killed Scott but left his wife critically injured.
"There's a lot of anger built up, and certainly it was not a good moment for anybody to see him for the first time," Scott's Uncle Terry Lee said.
Lee spoke to the court during Gallegos plea. He had harsh words for the man who caused his nephew's death.
"Certainly I pray for his soul. But as far as forgiving a man that ... an accident is one thing but a multiple offender so intoxicated, to run from the scene ... I have a tough time with, I don't consider that to be a man," Lee said.
Gallegos is a multiple DWI offender and is an illegal immigrant who got deported twice. The Gardner family, Judge William Gore and District Attorney Rex Gore all s
aid this case shines light on a national problem of illegal immigrants making their way across the border.
Mr. Gore also said this case should serve as a reminder that everyone is responsible for their actions.
"If you change someone else li
fe by taking it, and changing the lives of their families by taking someone that's a loved one from them ... your life too can be changed, and changed in a significant way," Gore said.
Ramiro Gallegos will spend at least 14 years and one month in prison and up to 20 years for the crimes he pled guilty to Friday. According to Brunswick County District Attorney Rex Gore, it will then be up to the federal government if he's deported back to Mexico.
Tina Gardner is still in a coma. Family members say she's made progress since the accident but there's still a long way to go. The Gardner's two children are
now living with their grandparents.
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"Scott Gardner Act" aims to track delinquent immigrants
The "Scott Gardner Act" is named after the Mount Holly man killed in an apparent drunken driving wreck last month in Brunswick county. Ramiro Gall
egos, an illegal immigrant, now faces second-degree murder charges in that wreck and he was convicted of driving while intoxicated three times, but authorities never deported him. The legislation would require all state and local law enforcement agencies to report immigration status to the FBI's national crime information center database.
Sue Myrick said her legislation would connect FIB and US Customs databases.
It would require all state and local law enforcement agencies to report immigration status, depo
rtation orders and failures to appear to the FBI's national crime information center database.
We're trying to enforce some of the provisions that should be enforced with serial drunk driving, and give the law enforcement people the tools they need to make that happen," Myrick said. "If somebody does committ a crime and they are drunk and they are driving and they're illegal, they should be deported. No questions asked. That should be the law."
Representative Myrick
says she's ready introduce the "Scott Gardner Act" on the house floor when congress reconvenes to Washington D.C. in September.
Myrick is a Republican congresswoman in the ninth congressional district.
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Note: The cost of this one illegal was:
- One dead white male
- One comatose wh
ite female
- Two orphaned white children
- Two white grandparents forced to raise their own grandchildren