In May of 2011, elite cyclist Marlon Castillo was behind the wheel when he crashed and his friend and cycling buddy Ariel Rosado was killed in the passenger seat. He still had to face criminal charges for causing his friend's death. Today, after two days in court, the now 29 year old Castillo, acting on the advice of his attorney Dickie Bradley, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing death by careless conduct.
Castillo made a mitigation plea this morning saying, quote, "Ariel Rosado and I grew up together. We rode the cross country...on the same team. I am truly and very sorry for what happened. Something like this has never happened to me before and I am so sorry."
His attorney asked the court to render justice with mercy and to not send Castillo to jail. Justice Lucas who accepted Castillo's guilty plea told him that while he will reserve his sentencing for this Friday. Justice Lucas warned Castillo that he better return on Friday with money to put down a payment as he will be imposing a fine.
Of note is that Castillo's attorney asked the court to take into consideration, that the motor vehicle inspector concluded that there was a malfunction with the accelerator causing it to stick.
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