LAKE COUNTY ? Sean Thomas Selig, 24, was sentenced Jan. 20 to the lower term of four years in state prison for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of an accident.
Selig pleaded guilty to the two felony charges, which stem from an Oct. 6, 2004 crash. Selig was driving his GMC Sierra truck while under the influence of alcohol and the truck overturned on Lakeshore Boulevard in Nice, killing his passenger Samuel Solorio. Selig ran from the scene, leaving Solorio pinned under the crushed passenger”s side of the truck”s cabin.
“There were neighbors who came out right away who said they did not see Mr. Selig,” prosecuting Deputy District Attorney John Langan said.
Selig told Solorio”s family and law enforcement that Solorio was driving, according to a press release. Selig also claimed he was ejected from the vehicle, but Langan said that was unlikely because the passenger side was crushed. According to the release, Selig suffered no injuries and spent the night at a friend”s house and did not say anything about the crash.
Lake County Superior Court Judge Arthur Mann ruled that Selig”s actions after the crash and his improbable claims were aggravating factors in the sentencing that outweighed Selig”s youth and clean record.
According to Langan, Selig faced a maximum of 15 years in prison before a plea bargain was struck. The maximum Selig faced under the plea arrangements was 10 years. Langan said a special allegation of hit-and-run was dropped so that Selig could plead guilty to hit-and-run as a separate charge. The result was that the sentences could run concurrently, reducing Selig”s sentence.
“This was a tragic incident, and it”s still a serious felony that will count as a strike if he commits another felony. For a young man with no prior record, a sentence like that is pretty traumatic. This did not warrant the upper term,” Langan said.
The Lake County District Attorney”s Office filed charges nearly a year after the accident following a California Highway Patrol investigation. Selig was booked into the Lake County Jail on Aug. 1, 2005 and released on $25,000 bail four days later. He was remanded to court custody last week following his sentencing.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
