Convicted of DUI-Twice
Convicted of Drug Possession-Three Times
Convicted of Driving Without a License-Once
Illegally Entered the United States-Three Times
Removed (Deported) to Guatemala-Twice
Used a False Alias to Mask Identity
Charged With Driving with a BAC of .239
Charged With Failure to Remain on the Scene of an Accident
Charged with Drunk Driving Causing Two Deaths

Every day across the United States almost 29 people die due to alcohol-impaired vehicle crashes. In 2016, there were 10,497 people who lost their lives due to people driving under the influence of alcohol. We recently learned that Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe were killed by an “alleged drunk driver.” Jackson, a young man in the prime of his life was better know because he was a linebacker (#53) with the Indianapolis Colts. Jackson previously attended Georgia Southern University where he played four seasons of football and received a degree in International Trade.

Jeffrey Monroe was a computer programmer with Allison Payment Systems. Monroe for years worked the midnight shift and worked part time as an Uber driver. He worked this part time job to be able to take his wife to the Tokyo Olympics. Both of these men’s lives were tragically cut short by an alleged drunk driver.

Manuel Orrego-Savala has been charged with two counts of failure to remain at the scene of an accident and two counts of drunk driving causing a death. Orrego-Savala crashed a Ford F-150 pickup truck into the rear of Monroe’s vehicle which was pulled off I-70 in Indianapolis in the breakdown lane. Orrego-Savala fled the scene on foot but was quickly arrested. He had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .239, which was nearly three times the legal limit in Indiana. But this was not his first run-in with law enforcement.

Manuel Orrego-Savala from Guatemala illegally entered the United States in July 2004. Within thirteen months he had been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) twice. In June and August 2005, he was arrested in Redwood City, California for DUI. He plead no contest to both DUI charges and was sentenced to 10 days in the county jail.

In early 2006, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor drug possession. He plead no contest and was given probation. In September and October 2006, he was arrested again for drug possession. He was convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail but given probation. In October 2006, he was arrested by ICE for being in the country illegally. On January 17, 2007, Manuel Orrego-Savala was removed (deported) to Guatemala.
Orrego-Savala didn’t stay in Guatemala long. Instead he returned illegally to the United States again. On March 26, 2009, he was arrested by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Francisco. He was removed (deported) to Guatemala for a second time on May 12, 2009. But he would illegally return to the United States for a third time. But this time he would use an alias to mask his true identity.

Manuel Orrego-Savala used the alias Alex Cabrera-Gonsales, when he was stopped in Boone County, Indiana for driving without a license. He was convicted and sentenced to two days in jail and given credit for time served in August 2017. The Boone County Sheriff’s Department submitted fingerprints to both the Indiana State Police and the FBI. One might think that the fingerprints once entered into the system would alert someone that this person is not Alex Cabrera-Gonsales but Manuel Orrego-Savala.

Individuals like Manuel Orrego-Savala are a threat to the public safety of American. He should have never been in the United States. He had multiple convictions for driving under the influence, multiple convictions for drug possession, multiple deportations, driving without a license, and now causing the deaths of two individuals. Last April, the Attorney General ordered that all federal prosecutors should bringing charges against aliens who have illegally re-entered the country and have a criminal history and pose a risk to public safety.

At the end of the day two families have lost loved ones because an illegal alien was driving a vehicle with a BAC of .239. While Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) have made great inroads to working to reduce drunk drivers impaired driving is a huge problem. With certain states allowing the sale of marijuana, one has to wonder how many impaired drivers will injure others in the future.

With technology today, fingerprints should have instantly identified that Alex Cabrera-Gonsales was really Manuel Orrego-Savala. He should have been charged and sentenced for re-entry in the United States after being removed twice before when he was arrested in Boone County. Then maybe we would have had the opportunity to watch a linebacker develop into a great NFL player. Then maybe a husband might have taken his wife to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. At the end of the day this is just tragic and our systems are broken or not equipped to solve these problems.