Drunken driver gets 15 years in prison

Man responsible for a fatal three-vehicle crash in Glen Burnie

A Glen Burnie man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Tuesday for causing a fatal three-vehicle crash last April while driving drunk.

In a hearing attended by the family and friends of Brandon deLeon, a 34-year-old from Pasadena killed in the crash, Pedro Balmore Baires-Beltran, 36, pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter with a vehicle, causing a life-threatening injury under the influence and driving under the influence while transporting a minor.

Anne Arundel Circuit Judge J. Michael Wachs’ 15-year sentence went above Maryland state guidelines for the crime, which range from four to 11 years of incarceration. Though he acknowledged the defendant’s willingness to take responsibility for his actions, the judge said the “many aggravating factors” of the crash — including the defendant’s past with drunken driving — pushed him to issue a harsher punishment.

Baires-Beltran was convicted of driving while impaired in 2011 and was issued probation before judgment. Then, in 2022, Baires-Beltran was again charged in two separate drunken driving incidents. At the time of the fatal crash, he was awaiting trial in both cases.

“The devastation that the defendant caused, the pain is immeasurable,” Wachs said. “His actions are inexplicable.”

Shortly before 1 p.m. on April 2 last year, near Marley Station Mall in Glen Burnie, Baires-Beltran was driving south on Ritchie Highway when he failed to stop for a steady red traffic signal. Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas said the light had been red for 45 seconds.

In his 2008 Toyota Tundra pickup, Baires-Beltran entered the intersection and struck a 2007 Chevrolet Equinox operated by Miguel deLeon, Brandon’s father, who was driving his son to work.

Grammas said that if the case had gone to trial, she would have called a witness who was also stopped at the intersection that afternoon. That witness, she said, would have testified that the Tundra must have been going somewhere between 50 and 60 miles per hour.

Photographs of the collision were presented in court Tuesday. The front of the Tundra, which the judge acknowledged was a heavyduty vehicle, was collapsed nearly to its windshield. An overhead photograph of the deLeon’s Equinox, which had been overturned and pushed several feet, showed the passenger’s side crushed nearly half of its width.

Brandon deLeon was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, and Miguel deLeon was taken to Shock Trauma with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, including broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Speaking to Wachs, JoAnn and Miguel deLeon, Brandon’s parents, recalled their son as a “gentle giant,” devoted to those he loved. With a shadowbox and picture frames commemorating their son facing the judge, both parents struggled to contain their emotions.

“To lose a child is so unnatural. To lose a child in this nature is devastating,” JoAnn deLeon said. “To say we’ve lost everything would be an understatement.”

The deLeon’s Equinox, as well as a 2013 BMW, were turning left into the mall, police said. The BMW was struck by both the Tundra and the Equinox. Its driver was uninjured, police said.

After the crash, Baires-Beltran was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, while his 13-year-old nephew was taken to the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Grammas showed the records of an interlock system ordered to be installed in Baires-Beltran’s vehicle in 2022. The system required the driver to blow into it before starting the vehicle; at the time of the test, the interlock takes a photograph of the person who completed it.

When Baires-Beltran started his car the day of the crash, an unidentified woman had completed the interlock test for him. Grammas explained that he had been driving for less than six minutes when the crash occurred. Nearly two hours later, when tested at the hospital, the driver’s blood alcohol concentration was .26, more than three times Maryland’s legal limit of .08.

The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office initially levied 15 charges against Baires-Beltran, including several drunken driving and manslaughter charges.

In deLeon’s obituary, family members recalled him as the “protector and jokester” of his family. A 2007 graduate from Chesapeake High School, deLeon loved animals, football and gaming. His family said he was also an inventive cook in the kitchen.

“He had an immense passion for life and was always willing to give a hand to anyone who needed it,” the obituary stated. “His family and friends will miss him more than words can say.”

After he is released from prison, Baires-Beltran will face five years of supervised probation, during which time he will be required to wear a SCRAM bracelet that will monitor whether there is any alcohol in his system, as well as his location.

Noting his client’s clear need for services, defense attorney Mandeep Chhabra said the judicial system had failed the deLeon family and his client.

“He fell through the cracks in our system, which are unfortunately made wider for individuals who are not native English speakers,” Chhabra said. “Now, two families are forever impacted by this tragic series of events.”