A driver blamed for a 2012 crash that killed an off-duty North Texas police officer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
A jury in Cleburne ordered the penalty on Monday for 22-year-old Ricardo Espinoza, of Alvarado.
Espinoza last week pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter and leaving the scene of an crash over last July's wreck in Venus.
Investigators said Espinoza was legally drunk when he drove his pickup truck into a motorcycle ridden by 25-year-old Dustin Dodson, a Lancaster police officer who was heading home after getting off work.
Espinoza was sentenced to 18 years in prison for intoxication manslaughter and 10 years for leaving the scene. The terms will be served concurrently.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
