Uriel Perez Palacios, convicted of murder for driving drunk and killing a newlywed couple from Irving, was sentenced today to 99 years in prison.
Palacios, 24, is already serving a 30-year federal prison sentence he is serving for his involvement in a Mexican drug ring.
The same Dallas County jury that sentenced him in the murder found him guilty Wednesday of killing Erika and German Clouet in a fiery car crash on Labor Day 2008. Five Southern Methodist students and a passenger in Palacios' SUV were injured in the crash, on Mockingbird Lane near the North Central Expressway.
In the penalty phase of his trial, jurors were told that Palacios tested positive for marijuana after the wreck and that his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. He was wanted on four outstanding warrants for drug offenses and driving while intoxicated.
Prosecutors showed jurors Palacios' résumé of felonies, misdemeanors and his federal drug and money laundering charges. Witnesses included the Dallas police officers who made the arrests in Palacios' prior DWI stops.
Squad car video from a 2003 stop showed police chasing Palacios, who was driving recklessly, police testified. Prosecutors also presented cocaine and marijuana found in Palacios' car that crashed into an elementary school fence in November 2007. He was "passed out" in the driver's seat that smelled of alcohol, police said.
The witnesses who spoke of Palacios' character for the defense – family and friends who are asking for mercy from the jury – didn't appear to help much, either.
Several testified that they knew of his alcohol problem. His mother repeatedly posted his bail when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. She said she had loaned him the Chevy Tahoe that crashed into the Clouets' small car and an SUV that was carrying the SMU students.
Palacios' wife said she knew little about her husband's "side job" as a drug dealer, but she was aware of his drinking problem.
"I speak to him every day," Araseli Palacios said. "He doesn't remember anything about the crash, but he's changed. Not a day goes by that he doesn't say he's sorry."
