“It also was unclear why Rangel-Ochoa hadn’t been deported after his drunken-driving convictions — all of which preceded 2003. Lopez-Wilson, who handles immigration cases, said that, back then, authorities were more concerned with illegal immigrants who committed violent offenses.”

Omaha World Herald

Illegal immigrant faces prison

By Todd Cooper
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The suspended driver and illegal immigrant blew a red light and slammed a pickup into a minivan near 180th Street and West Center Road in May — killing 4-year-old van passenger Josie Bluhm.

For those actions, Eleazar Rangel-Ochoa pleaded no contest Tuesday to driving under suspension, a felony, and misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide.

And Rangel-Ochoa remains distraught, his attorney said.

He isn’t the only one. Josie’s loved ones, including parents Kyle and Jayme Bluhm, have had to carry on without their 4-year-old middle child — a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bundle of fun.

Jayme Bluhm was driving the couple’s three children, then ages 5, 4 and 1, to day care on May 12, when the crash happened, prosecutors said.

“All of these cases are horrible,” said prosecutor Matt Kuhse, who handles Douglas County’s motor-vehicle homicide cases. “But it’s particularly troubling when it’s a child who is so, so young — especially when her life ended in such a violent way.”

Rangel-Ochoa’s case has been marked with questions about why he was driving and why he was still in the country after three drunken-driving convictions.

Rangel-Ochoa’s attorney, Joe Lopez-Wilson, said Rangel-Ochoa, 27, is torn up over his actions — and has little explanation for why he was driving.

Lopez-Wilson said Rangel-Ochoa got behind the wheel of the pickup because the truck’s owner wasn’t going to work that day. Rangel-Ochoa and his two passengers were headed to work at a construction site.

The attorney said he was uncertain whether Rangel-Ochoa’s two passengers could have driven, or whether they had driver’s licenses. Rangel-Ochoa didn’t. His driver’s license had been suspended for 15 years after his third-drunken driving conviction in 2003.

It also was unclear why Rangel-Ochoa hadn’t been deported after his drunken-driving convictions — all of which preceded 2003.

Lopez-Wilson, who handles immigration cases, said that, back then, authorities were more concerned with illegal immigrants who committed violent offenses.

Shortly after the crash, Lopez-Wilson said, his client wanted to “man up” by pleading to the charges against him. Lopez-Wilson said he wouldn’t let Rangel-Ochoa do so until the attorney had a chance to review the charges and all of the evidence. (Rangel-Ochoa wasn’t drunk that morning — hence the misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide charge.)

Rangel-Ochoa faces up to six years in prison — five years for driving under suspension, one year for motor vehicle homicide — when he is sentenced in December. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have a deportation hold on him now — and Rangel-Ochoa is expected to be deported after he serves his sentence.

HERE