LAGUNA PUEBLO – Florida man Alexis Riego was convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, and two counts of assault with serious bodily injury. According to court records, Riego allegedly caused the crash that caused the deaths and injuries in 2019. Riego has not yet been sentenced but will remain incarcerated until sentencing can occur.
The United States Department of Justice used this case to make an example of truck drivers who operate heavy machinery while distracted.
According to court documents, Riego was travelling westbound on Interstate 40 during the day of September 7. This was a period of serious construction and a very deadly summer on the interstate from Albuquerque to Grants, N.M. Riego was on video chat app Facetime, speaking with his wife. He took his eyes off the road before he crashed into stationary traffic waiting to get through a constructions zone. The resulting accident killed four people and seriously injured two others. Riego was mostly fine from the accident, which Laguna Police Department and New Mexico State Police were first to respond to. Because the crash occurred on tribal land, and LPD was the first to respond, the case became federal jurisdiction and the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over.
The accident caused Interstate 40 to be closed for several hours, during this time, investigators were able to get information from Riego before reading him his Miranda Rights, which remind criminal suspects that they have a right to legal counsel and the right to remain silent. Because of this, the court process was dragged on with Riego’s lawyers trying to get those statements dismissed. The judge ruled that the statements were improperly taken, but that it wouldn’t affect the search warrant for the electronic logs and cargo of the truck because there were enough eyewitness accounts to justify the warrant.
Investigators found that Riego was travelling between 65 and 70 miles per hour, and he took his eyes off the road for “about one minute” according to court documents, when the crash occurred. Riego hit on his brakes, but by the time he did it was too late. The crash created a six-car pileup.
“When we take the wheel, we take on a collective responsibility for the families who share our highways,” said U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, who prosecuted this case. “The consequences for failing in that responsibility are grave and irrevocable. This conviction is a sobering reminder that a moment on video chat can forever change your life, and end the lives of others.”
Attorney Uballez prosecuted this case with assistance from the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, Laguna Police Department, and New Mexico State Police’s investigative work.