COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) - A man charged with manslaughter in the drunken-driving deaths of two people was apparently in the U.S. illegally and had obtained a driver's license in North Carolina, according to immigration officials.Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano, 25, of Laurel, has been charged with two counts of homicide by motor vehicle in the deaths of Marine Cpl. Brian Mathews, 21, of Columbia, and Jennifer Bower, 24, of Montgomery Village.
Mathews and Bower, who were on their second date, were killed on Thanksgiving when Morales-Soriano allegedly slammed into the back of their car. Mathews had recently finished eight months of duty in Iraq and planned to leave the military in June.
Morales-Soriano, who police said had a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit for driving, was not injured in the crash. He was being held in the Howard County Detention Center on $830,000 bail.
There was no record of Morales-Soriano, a Mexican citizen who worked as a landscaper, entering the U.S. legally, said James Dinkins, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Baltimore.
Morales-Soriano used his North Carolina driver's license issued Feb. 5, 2004, to obtain a license in Maryland on July 8, 2005, according to Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, The (Baltimore) Sun reported.
In February, Morales-Soriano refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene of a non-injury accident but his license was never suspended, police said. Smelling of alcohol and failing to keep his balance, Morales-Soriano refused the test and was given four citations before being released, said Wayne Kirwan, a spokesman for Howard County State's Attorney Office.
The police officer mistakenly gave Morales-Soriano a form that was should have been sent to the motor vehicle office. Officials couldn't suspend his license as required by law when a driver refuses a Breathalyzer.
Prosecutors later dropped the charges against Morales-Soriano, noting weak evidence.
After the current criminal case against him is completed, immigration officials will begin deportation proceedings against Morales-Soriano, Dinkins said.
Nope, we don't need tighter controls on acquiring ID, such as the key bit - the Driver's License. Everything is just peachy. Woop woop.