A 26-year-old Mexican national whose pickup “catastrophically dismembered” two motorcycle riders in Goshen County two years ago while driving while under the influence of methamphetamine was sentenced Thursday, to between 24.25 and 27 years in prison.
That is the maximum that state District Court Judge Edward Buchanan could legally sentence under the two charges Jonathan Cervantes pleaded guilty to in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
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 riding the motorcycle, Leslie and Linda Thayer of Colorado, died at the scene. They were 74 and 69 years old, respectively.
One investigator reported they were “catastrophically dismembered.”
The Dodge had crossed the center line and struck the trike head-on, witnesses said at the time. Besides meth, Cervantes was also under the influence of alcohol and benzodiazepines, Buchanan noted Thursday.
Cervantes was ejected from the truck and 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.
In court Thursday, Cervantes apologized.
Buchanan said he doubted whether Cervantes fully understood the impact of his actions, in the “needless loss – tragic loss” of two innocent people who were enjoying the rewards of their work and expecting safety on the highway.
“I don’t know Mr. Cervantes – maybe he’s a man of little emotion, but it didn’t seem like the remorse expressed was heartfelt,” said the judge. “And I really question, Mr. Cervantes, whether or not you fully comprehend or appreciate, or understand, the magnitude of what you’ve done.”
Cervantes interjected, speaking softly and in Spanish, to say that he did understand it – perfectly.
In Court Thursday
Cervantes’ public defense attorney Eric Palen asked for a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years.
That would account for the 20-year maximum for aggravated vehicular homicide, to which Cervantes pleaded guilty in March. And it would layer the 7-year-maximum sentence for Cervantes’ second conviction in this case, felony meth possession, as a simultaneous or “concurrent” sentence.
Cervantes said he wanted to go back home to Mexico, and that he was sorry.
Goshen County Attorney Eric Boyer, conversely, argued for the maximum sentence of 27 years with the bottom number reaching the lengthiest figure allowed by law – 90% of 27 years
Buchanan’s sentence included the math: that would be “six and one-quarter” years as the lower number and seven as the top number on the meth conviction, and between 18 and 20 years on the vehicular homicide conviction.
The judge chose to arrange those sentences “consecutively,” meaning one after another.
‘Wanted Him To Know…’
Leslie Thayer’s sister Kathy Thayer addressed the court, saying Cervantes had taken away her brother – and had cheated him of his burial wishes “because he left him in pieces alongside the road.”
“I wanted him to know how bad he hurt this family,” she said. “And I’m still going through it and having nightmares every night. And I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail.”
Here’s Why
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.
Boyer indicated in March that he agreed 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 placed a claim on him for deportation proceedings, said Boyer at the time.
The prosecutor elaborated on those outside charges in his Thursday statements to the court. He said Cervantes’ criminal history includes a charge of taking indecent liberties with a child, and the investigative narrative associated says Cervantes gave a “young girl” hickeys to keep another man away from her.
“That doesn’t sound to me like a gentleman who just wants to go back to Mexico and be a good citizen,” added Boyer.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
