A 26-year-old Mexican national involved in a pickup-versus-motorcycle crash that killed two people on the highway south of Torrington two years ago pleaded guilty Monday — to killing one of the two people with reckless driving and to possessing crystal meth.
Johnathan Cervantes could now face up to 27 years in prison in Wyoming.
He answered “culpable,” Spanish for “guilty,” to the charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and felony meth possession.
His sentencing will be set for a later date. At it, he can argue for any sentence he would like, but he cannot withdraw his guilty pleas if District Court Judge Edward Buchanan hands down a sentence he doesn’t like, according to statements given in court Monday.
Cervantes was the driver of a 2500 Dodge Ram pickup found on the roadside of U.S. Highway 85 the evening of Aug. 11, 2023, with a wrecked Harley-Davidson trike motorcycle in the grass nearby, says the case affidavit.
The husband and wife who’d been on the motorcycle, Leslie and Linda Thayer, died on scene.
The Dodge crossed the center line and struck the trike head-on, witnesses said at the time.
Cervantes had been ejected from the truck and was injured. He checked himself out of a hospital in Loveland, Colorado, while the investigation was still pending and wasn’t apprehended until about a year later.
Well, Because …
Cervantes established a plea agreement in which the Goshen County Attorney’s Office agreed to drop the second of his two aggravated vehicular homicide charges, in exchange for his guilty plea.
Goshen County Attorney Eric Boyer indicated that he’s agreeing to drop the second charge, which would have carried an additional penalty of up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, because Cervantes will likely face justice in at least one other jurisdiction after he’s released from Wyoming.
Cervantes is wanted on felony charges in Colorado and Kansas. The U.S. Attorney’s Office wants him on suspicion of illegally re-entering the country (also a felony), and federal authorities have also placed a claim on him for deportation proceedings, said Boyer.
Boyer said he’s been in touch with the Thayers’ loved ones, who have voiced support for the plea agreement.
Though Cervantes can argue for any sentence he would like, Boyer indicated he plans to argue for the full 27 years the charges allow.
Goshen County crime victim’s compensation staffers are in talks with the victims’ family about restitution, but people generally assume “there will be little or no chance for Mr. Cervantes to pay any meaningful amount of restitution,” said Boyer.
He pointed to Cervantes’ likely term of lengthy incarceration, followed by other criminal cases and detainers.
Factual Basis
Buchanan asked Cervantes to give a “factual basis,” essentially a confession, so the judge could accept his guilty pleas.
Through his language interpreter, Cervantes confessed that he drove recklessly, drunkenly and under the influence of meth the night of the crash, causing the death of Leslie Thayer.
He admitted that he had about 4.2 grams of crystal meth with him as well, a felony amount.
Buchanan accepted his guilty pleas and the plea agreement, and told Cervantes that Wyoming Department of Corrections probation and parole personnel would be in touch with him to build a pre-sentence investigation report, which is a biographical account of a defendant’s life and history used to inform the judge at sentencing.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
