"She had a kind heart and a great potential for helping others," Becker read. "We will always cherish who she is and what she brought to each of us."
Morales-Soriano's attorney, Brad Goldbloom, argued to the judge that the facts of this case are "no different than in any other [DUI] case that comes before the court." He asserted that his client's immigration status should not be a factor.
"This case has been portrayed as the illegal immigrant versus the American hero and his girlfriend," Goldbloom said.
"My client has always wished to express remorse to both families and to his own family," Goldbloom told the judge. "He understood from the moment it happened what he did."
After the sentencing, Goldbloom said he was surprised that his client's immigration status was a factor.
"The problem is that ... I think the blood-alcohol content would be sufficient to justify the sentence," he said.
tyeesha.dixon@baltsun.com
Proceedings timeline
* Nov. 23, 2006: Eduardo Morales-Soriano crashes into a car stopped at a red light in Columbia. The occupants of the other car (driver Jennifer Bower and passenger Brian Mathews) are killed. Morales-Soriano is arrested.
* December 2006: Grand jury indicts Morales-Soriano on two counts of vehicular manslaughter.
* September 2007: Morales-Soriano pleads guilty to the manslaughter counts and is scheduled to be sentenced.
* January 2008: Judge Lenore R. Gelfman rejects the guilty plea and orders a trial.
* May 14, 2008: Defense attorney tells Judge Louis A. Becker that Morales-Soriano will enter another guilty plea on the two manslaughter counts in lieu of a trial. * May 28, 2008: Morales-Soriano enters the guilty plea and is sentenced to 10 years in prison.
