FORT WORTH — A Fort Worth jury gave Louis Nieves the maximum sentence Wednesday for causing a fiery fatal accident on Interstate 30 last year.
"I know I committed an accident, a real bad accident," he told News 8 in a jailhouse interview last year. "I feel sorry for that family that lost that person."
That person was Alejandro Raya, a husband and father of three. He was driving a fuel tanker on Interstate 30 east of downtown Fort Worth on March 28 when it was hit by Nieves' pickup truck driving the wrong way on the freeway.
In the WFAA interview, Nieves admitted to drinking 10 beers before the crash.
The resulting fireball also caused significant damage to the road surface.
A jury sentenced Nieves to the full 20-year term for intoxication manslaughter after hearing his WFAA interview during the trial.
