Drunk driver sentenced to three years for fatal crash

Pictured: Paul Martin (left) and Albert Ruiz.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A 23-year-old drunk driver who killed a man in a June traffic collision apologized to the man's family today before being sentenced to three years in state prison.

Before Albert Gilbert Ruiz's sentencing in West Valley Superior Court, family members of the man he killed -- 64-year-old Paul Martin -- spoke about Martin's loss and about Ruiz's sentence, which one person called an "insult."

"You have no idea the pain you have caused," said Erika Giffing, Martin's daughter. "You get to go home. My dad doesn't."

Ruiz, of Rancho Cucamonga, drank an estimated seven beers while watching a Lakers game with friends June 13 before getting behind the wheel.

Near the intersection of Church Street and Elm Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga, Ruiz's Nissan Sentra crossed a landscaped median into opposing traffic, where he struck the driver's-side door of Martin's Hummer.

Martin, of Rancho Cucamonga, was pronounced dead the night of the crash at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland.

Ruiz, whose blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16, pleaded no contest to a felony DUI charge last month as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Deputy District Attorney Mary Izadi said she agreed to the plea bargain because Ruiz had no prior criminal record, and the maximum sentence he faced if convicted in trial was likely no more than six years.

Izadi said she came to the decision "after speaking with (Martin's) family and looking at the case. And he was willing to take responsibility for his actions."

"We believe justice was served in this case," Izadi said.

Ruiz's attorney, Richard Escobedo, read a statement in court on Ruiz's behalf.

In the statement, Ruiz said he will never forgive himself for Martin's death. He called his decision to drive drunk "the most horrible decision I've ever made."

"No one in this world deserves to feel the pain I have caused by my actions," he said.

Martha Martin, Paul Martin's wife, cried in court as she spoke about the close bond she had with her husband of 29 years.

"I will never find that kind of love again because of you -- because of your selfishness," she said.

She said her husband was a Vietnam War veteran and a recipient of the Bronze Star.