The man accused of fleeing after driving a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy two years ago at a construction site, pleaded guilty Friday, leaving a judge-decised punishment.
Juan Molina-Salles has admitted a single criminal charge of appearing in court late Friday morning 10 days before his trial began and leaving the scene of the accident with his death.
The plea came with the understanding that a judge would not impose a sentence on prisons that were more than 20 years, a condition that prosecutors opposed.
Morina Sales, a Honduras immigrant who was illegally in the United States, is guaranteed to be deported after leaving prison.
This development suggests that conclusions may be approaching if they are flashpoints amidst the national political debate over immigration and border security.
It came days after Gov. Ron Desantis defended the state-funded construction company that employed Molina-Salles and his colleagues. Desantis said the joint venture of Archer Western-de Moya Group, which his administration overseen, is a victim of an interstate fraud ring that creates fake identifications to pass citizenship verification screenings. Ta.
Two colleagues at Molina-Salles described the rudimentary employment process that did not in-depth look into immigrant status in their pretrial testimony.
Molina-Salles, 34, ran the front-end loader in September 2022 when he ran Apex Michael Hartwick a late night. He took off on foot, spurring an overnight manhunt.
The prosecutor and his defense attorney were unable to agree to the proposed sentence.
The public defense attorney representing Molina-Salles offered to accept him a 10-year sentence, consistent with the low-end of what state guidelines suggested. The prosecutor refused, saying he would only consider the proposals from over 20 years.
Molina-Salles then chose to let Pinellas-Pasco Circuit judge Pat Siracusa decide his fate. His plea came to the understanding that the ruling not exceeding 20 years, a condition the prosecutor opposed. Attorneys will have the opportunity to try and persuade judges to impose far less penalties than penalties at the sentencing hearing scheduled for early March.
Hartwick helped direct traffic at the construction site on Interstate 275 near Roosevelt Boulevard, as he was on duty the night he died. He was standing outside a police car near the shoulder of the road when Morina Sales drove on a front-end loader at 20 mph and ran him. Court records show he was unaware that he had attacked the aide.
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Molina Sales’ two colleagues say in pretrial testimony that when they noticed the body of the aide lying on the ground they were driving around 50 feet behind him in a truck. I did. Alan Gomez Zelaya and Douglas Valadalaas said the area was dark and it was difficult to see the flashing light above the aide’s car.
Gomez Zelaya testified that he had come out to see the aide and told the supervisor to call 911.
He sounded scary, Gomez Zelaya said, and began to cry.
Another of his colleagues had his construction vest and helmet before he escaped. The next morning, the deputy found him covered in mud and wet, hidden by a nearby brush.
Molina-Salles and at least 13 colleagues were later accused in federal court of using a Social Security number that did not belong to them to work in the United States.
This is a developing story. Stay at tampabay.com for updates.
