Man sentenced for leaving fatal crash
Lantana-area man left scene of fatal crash in Boynton Beach in 2017.
A Lantana-area man has been sentenced to four years in prison for leaving the scene of a fatal crash in Boynton Beach in 2017.
WEST PALM BEACH — A Lantana-area man has been sentenced to four years in prison for leaving the scene of a fatal crash in Boynton Beach in 2017.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Cheryl A. Caracuzzo on Friday sentenced Victor Villanueva Rivera to four years in prison in the April 30, 2017, death of Brandon Wesson. Villanueva Rivera was given credit for the 421 days he’s already served awaiting trial.
Wesson, 21, of Palm Beach Gardens, was driving a motorcycle on Hypoluxo Road north near Lawrence Road when he was hit and killed by a pickup driven by Villanueva Rivera. Villanueva Rivera did not stop and instead drove home.
He was found at his nearby residence after investigators followed a trail from the scene that turned out to be fluid leaking from the front-wheel assembly of Villanueva Rivera’s truck.
Villanueva Rivera told police that he left the scene of the crash because he was afraid he would be deported to Mexico. Villanueva Rivera, who had been living in the U.S. for 27 years without proper paperwork, was sentenced U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks in June 2017 to six months in federal prison for falsifying work documents.
During that hearing in West Palm Beach, Middlebrooks said Villanueva Rivera would eventually be deported. He has no previous criminal history.
Kevin Puebla, Wesson’s supervisor at Mario the Baker in Royal Palm Beach, previously told The Palm Beach Post that Wesson loved motorcycles.
“He’s really a well-respected kid and just allaround good person, very caring,” Puebla said. “(He’d) do anything for anybody.”