Office of the District Attorney - Maggie Fleming, District Attorney
NEWS RELEASE
August 17, 2022
District Attorney Maggie Fleming announced that on Tuesday, August 16th, Judge Neel sentenced 20-year-old Ismael Lopez Jr to serve 4 years in the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for violating the terms of his felony probation. His original conviction stemmed from December 17, 2020, when he crashed while driving under the influence of alcohol, killing his passenger. Lopez pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Penal Code 191.5 (b)) and driving under the influence causing death (Vehicle Code 23153 (a)&(b)), with the sentence to be determined by the judge. On February 14, 2021, after hearing from the victim’s family, Judge Feeney sentenced Lopez to 1 year in jail and 3 years of felony probation.
Lopez violated probation on February 2, 2022 by driving under the influence of drugs. He then pled guilty to that charge and admitted his conduct violated his grant of probation. Once again, the family of the victim in the 2020 manslaughter case addressed the court at sentencing. Judge Neel imposed a 4-year term, which is the maximum that may be imposed for his crimes.