El Paso Man Convicted of Two DWI Deaths Starts GoFundMe Page
I guess this is what "taking responsibility for your actions" looks like to some people.
An El Paso man who was convicted for killing two construction workers while drunk in 2014 created a GoFundMe account (that has since been deleted.) He needs help in paying the $10,000 that the court ordered in restitution to the families of the two men he killed.
If you're a listener who lives in El Paso, yes, this was the bozo who hit two workers on I-10 when the entire freeway was closed down. He had to run through multiple barricades before hitting the two victims. Yeah, THAT guy.
Jan Michael Nieves Delgado, now 22, escaped prison time by receiving a 10-year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay $5,000 each to the families of the two men he killed. Unfortunately, that has been a bit on an inconvenience for Nieves Delgado, so he's trying to get strangers to foot the bill for him. Notice how careful he was to make himself sound like the victim in all this while also making sure he doesn't reveal what he did:
"Back in 2014 I made a big mistake while being enlisted in the Army, ended up being kicked out unfairly and even tho I got probation since I was involved in an accident, now I have to pay $10,000 in restitution to fix all. It's really hard to pay that much back when you have probation and it becomes so hard to find a job and then when you find a job you don't make enough. Please help me pay this back and get some weight off my shoulders. THANK YOU SO MUCH!" -- now deleted GoFundMe page, via El Paso Times
Ohhhhh....it's just not fair, is it? First you get kicked out of the Army and NOW you don't get to keep all the money you earn for yourself. Times is hard.
It's unclear if Nieves Delgado took the page down himself or if it was GoFundMe admins who did it, but you'll be happy to know that, according to the family of one of the victims, the page didn't succeed in raising any donations before it was taken down.
I realize people make mistakes; sometimes, horrible, selfish mistakes that affect others. But I also believe in redemption and second chances. You just hope that the wrong-doer has learned something in the process. Jan Michael Nieves Delgado doesn't seemed to have learned anything so far. Maybe a revocation of his probation or, hold on to your hats, some time in jail might help him with the learning process. The District Attorney in El Paso, Jamie Esparza summarizes it fairly well: "The GoFundMe account is highly offensive. It is a clear indication that he show no remorse that his actions took two lives."
Grow up, kid. And learn to pay your own debts.