IDAHO FALLS — More than one year after driving drunk and killing six people in a crash on U.S. Highway 20 near the Lindsay Boulevard exit in Idaho Falls, the defendant was sentenced Tuesday in the Bonneville County Courthouse.

Luis David Garcia-Diaz, 27, of Rigby received the maximum sentence under the terms of his amended plea agreement. District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced him to six years fixed and nine years indeterminate on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, with the sentences running consecutively, for a total of up to 30 years in state prison.

Under terms of the plea agreement, the state agreed to dismiss four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter and four additional felony charges in exchange for Garcia-Diaz pleading guilty to two vehicular manslaughter charges and paying full restitution for all charged and uncharged crimes.

The defendant had sought a sentence of three years fixed and four years indeterminate to be served concurrently for a total of up to seven years in state prison, according to court records.

Watkins also assessed Garcia-Diaz fees totaling $15,591. The amount of restitution costs will be determined within 30 days, the judge ruled.

According to court documents, Garcia-Diaz was driving a Dodge Ram heading east on May 18, 2024, when he drove over the center of the highway and entered the westbound lanes and collided head-on with a Chevrolet Express van carrying 14 people. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.192 percent when his truck struck the van. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

The deceased victims are Abel Mejia Martinez, 43, Pedro Manuel Alcantar Mejia, 26, Brandon Ponce Gallegos, 24, Jose Guadalupe Sanchez Medina, 20, Luis Enrique Sereno Perez, 32, and Javier Gomez Alcantar, 36. A report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico confirmed that the van’s passengers were all agricultural workers from Mexico with H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker visas.