Arrested 18-year-old not driver in crash that killed five near Moapa

MOAPA — Jean Ervin Soriano was vilified in the media.

He was described as an 18-year-old who had escaped a California alcohol treatment facility, then destroyed a family when his alleged drunken driving caused a crash on Interstate 15 that killed five.

On Wednesday, the truth came out.

Soriano wasn’t the driver. He was a victim, too.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Lynn, who led the investigation into the deadly crash on March 30, testified at a preliminary hearing that Soriano’s blood was found on the passenger’s side of the 1999 green Dodge Durango.

And a shoe print found on the driver’s door — which was kicked open following the crash — did not match Soriano’s.

Prosecutor Brian Rutledge pressed Lynn: Hadn’t Soriano told troopers he was the driver?

Yes, he had, Lynn said. But “there is no evidence to support that he was the driver,” the trooper said.

Soriano’s lawyers explained. The teenager was pressured into taking the fall by Alford Gomez of St. George, Utah, the actual driver of the vehicle.

“What we believe happened is that this Gomez person threatened and intimidated him (Soriano),” said lawyer Frank Cofer. “This case definitely demonstrates why physical evidence is so much more important than confessions.”

Following Lynn’s 10 minutes of testimony, Soriano was ordered released from custody and the case dismissed with prejudice by Moapa Justice of the Peace Ruth Kolhoss.

Cofer credited prosecutors for ending the case. “Once we developed this evidence and presented it to them, they were swift to dismiss the charges,” the defense lawyer said.

Rutledge would not comment on whether Gomez would be charged, only that it was an ongoing investigation.

Jail records show Gomez was not in custody in Clark County as of Wednesday evening.

Relatives of the victims attended the hearing wearing royal blue shirts, adorned with buttons that held the pictures of the victims.

Following the hearing, they quickly left the courthouse without comment.

Soriano, wearing navy blue jail scrubs with his arms and legs shackled, hung his head throughout the hearing. Afterward, he was quickly shuffled out a side door by marshals and into an awaiting detention center transport van.

He was expected to be released from jail late Wednesday.

Cofer said his client was relieved after spending three months in custody for something he didn’t do.

“He’s been punished quite enough for having been intimidated into making false statements to the police,” Cofer said.

Two members of Soriano’s family attended the hearing, including his aunt Nelly Ciprian. “I’m really happy. Finally, he’s not guilty,” she said following the hearing.

Prior to his arrest in the DUI case, Soriano had escaped a drug and alcohol treatment facility for youth run by the Orange County Probation Department.

Lawyer Ben Durham said Soriano was not expected to be transported to that facility following his release from jail in Las Vegas. He would be sent home with family in California, though that issue still needed to be addressed, Durham said.

Soriano was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $3.5 million bail since March 30, the day of the deadly crash.

Three brothers, one of their wives and a girl were killed when a Dodge SUV rear-ended the van carrying seven members of their Southern California family just before 3 a.m.

Two other people were injured and hospitalized.

The deceased victims were identified as Genaro Fernandez, 41, of Norwalk; Raudel Fernandez-Avila, 49, and Belen Fernandez, 53, of Lynwood; and Angela Sandoval, 13, and Leonardo Fernandez-Avila, 45, of Los Angeles.

Soriano’s arrest report said while he was in the hospital being treated for injuries from the crash he told a highway trooper he was the driver and he had drunk “too many” Budweiser beers.

Soriano was facing nine counts that could have netted him dozens of years in prison had he been convicted.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.