UPDATED: Carlos Martinelly sentenced in nun's death

Reading from a handwritten letter Friday in a Prince William Circuit courtroom Friday, the man convicted of felony murder for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a Benedictine nun told a judge he has changed.

“I am extremely sorry for the destruction and harm I put the sisters through,” Carlos Martinelly Montano said. “I am willing to take full responsibility.”

At a trial in October, Martinelly, 24, was convicted of felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of maiming as a result of driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license and a third driving while intoxicated offense within five years for the Aug. 1, 2010 crash on Bristow Road that killed Sister Denise Mosier and seriously injured two other Benedictine sisters.

At a sentencing hearing Friday, Prince William County Circuit Court Lon E. Faris sentenced Martinelly to serve 20 years in prison for the felony murder charge. Faris also sentenced him to serve 20 years for the other five charges, but ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.

Police and witnesses said Martinelly was driving his Subaru on Bristow Road about 8:15 a.m. on that Sunday morning, when he lost control of his vehicle, hit a guard rail while crossing a bridge, bounced off the other side and collided with a Toyota Corolla carrying the three nuns, who had been driving from their home in Richmond to the Benedictine monastery on Linton Hall Road for their annual retreat.

Police said Martinelly smelled of alcohol and his car was filled with beer cans. His blood alcohol content was 0.20 at the time of the crash, investigators said.

Mosier, 66, who had been riding in the back seat of the Toyota, was pronounced dead at the scene. Sister Charlotte Lange, 75, who was driving, and sister Connie Ruth Lupton, 70, were both seriously injured in the crash.

Martinelly, who authorities said came to the country illegally from Bolivia, was in the midst of deportation proceedings at the time of the crash and news of the crash sparked a heated immigration debate. His currently being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer and will likely be deported after serving his sentence, authorities said.

In court Friday, Martinelly’s family members and pastor, and Martinelly himself, described how he has changed since the crash.

“He has changed his life completely and give it over to the Lord,” his mother, Maria Martinelly said, speaking through a Spanish interpreter.

In the letter he read to the court, Martinelly said he found religion in jail and hopes to become a pastor to counsel other people who may be struggling with alcohol addictions.

Martinelly said the crash “has been a real wake up call for him.”

“I realized my life was going in the wrong direction and I needed to turn my life around,” he said.

Virginia’s voluntary sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence for Martinelly that ranged from 14 years, nine months at the low end to 24 years, seven months at the high end.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronald Reel asked the judge to exceed those guidelines and impose a higher sentence.

Reel said it was a “tragic irony” that witnesses at the sentencing hearing said Martinelly “found religion and God in jail” but his actions in August 2010 caused the death of a nun and injured two others.

Defense attorney Dimitri Willis said Martinelly “never intended to harm someone.”

The judge disagreed, saying that Martinelly was convicted of drunken driving twice before and knew the consequences of driving drunk again.

“When he got in the car while he was intoxicated, he knew there was a great risk that someone would be killed or hurt,” Faris said.

But, he said, the description family members and Martinelly gave of how he had changed since his arrest caused Faris to give a lesser sentence than the one he had planned.

After the hearing, the prosecutor and defense attorneys each said they thought the sentence was fair.

“It’s a very serious sentence and I think it will send a message that if you drink and drive in Prince William County …it will lead to severe consequences,” Reel said.

Defense attorneys said they are likely to appeal Martinelly’s felony murder conviction.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-530-3908.