Hector Esqueda, 24, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on three counts of intoxication manslaughter from a June 2009 head-on collision in Wilson County.
Judge Donna S. Rayes sentenced Esqueda on Wednesday following more than an hour of testimony which included pleas for probation from family members of the defendant and parents of one of the victims.
"I believe in forgiveness but I also believe in paying for what's just and I believe he got justice and I believe the families got justice," said Rachel Valadez, a cousin of Priscilla Montoya, the 20-year-old fiancé of Esqueda's who died in the crash along with 20-year-old Kara Denkewalter and 18-year-old Orlando Brown.
Nearly two dozen family and friends of Montoya filled the left side of the courtroom while about a dozen family and friends of Esqueda sat on the right side.
Before sentencing Esqueda, Rayes said the most insightful comments came from Kara's mother Jane Denkewalter.
While asking for probation, Denkewalter questioned Esqueda, who earlier on the stand had said he wanted probation to get counseling for the crash and to go back to school.
"Why hasn't that happened? It seems to me like you're still making wrong choices," said Denkewalter. "You've had three years. There's counseling for free, education for free, saying you want doesn't change things. You have to act."
"I wish that I could be convinced that Mr. Esqueda would be successful on probation but his performance on pre-bond conditions have been otherwise," said Rayes before sentencing. "I think it's extremely irresponsible to conceive a child 17 months after this happened."
Prior to the sentencing, Esqueda spoke about his 8-month-old son who he fathered with a new girlfriend after the crash.
"There's a little child that's going to go without his dad for 10 years. However, the fact is the Montoya family is going to be without their daughter for the rest of their lives," said Valadez.
"It's a tough thing to preside over a case like this, because really nobody wins," said Joe Ponce, Esqueda's attorney. "Hector lost his fiancé and his friends as a result of a really bad accident that was alcohol-related."
Esqueda must serve at least two and a half years of his sentence before he's eligible for parole.
He plead guilty to all three counts in February to avoid a trial where he could have faced up to 60 years in prison.