The driver Alberto Maldonado, who drove a bus of the company Silvicar, which in November 2019 was heading to San Clemente del Tuyú with 44 students and 6 teachers, which then overturned and killed two girls of 11 and 12 years, was sentenced on Monday to 3 years and 8 months of effective prison and 9 years of disqualification to drive, which is an exemplary sentence.
Judge Emiliano Lázari, who was part of the conviction of the rugbiers in the trial for the murder of Fernando Báez Sosa, placed special emphasis "on the negligence of the driver, who was distracted for a second and a half in observing his phone, going at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour. It is a serious offense, considering that most road accidents are due to the use of cell phones, "explains prosecutor Juan Manuel Dávila.
According to the expert, it was found that Maldonado observed his cell phone at 6:10 a.m. on November 28, 2019, just at the time the bus was distracted from route 2 and at the exact moment that the tachometer (instrument that measures speed in revolutions per minute) stopped working. According to Clarín, the message opened by the driver was a meme.
So far it was thought that Maldonado had fallen asleep. The bus had left at 3 in the morning from the Vera Peñaloza school, that November 28, but had made another trip of about 100 kilometers before. There was speculation about fatigue, which is not ruled out, but Judge Lázari was forceful in the distraction with the cell phone.
In Room 1 of Dolores, the secretary reads the sentence against the driver Alberto Maldonado. Behind, Judge Emiliano Lázari. Photo: Gabriela Urritibehety/Dolores
"In that second and a half that Maldonado looked down, the bus went to the bank, traveled 55 meters and the driver warned that a few meters ahead had a sewer that, if it had collided, today we would be talking about a greater tragedy," says Dávila.
"He put the overturn, which meant the rollover, the two deaths, the three seriously injured and the multiple psychologically affected left by the accident. But at the same time, for the judge, it was a mitigating factor because it could have been much more serious."
The driver Alberto Maldonado was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison: for looking at his cell phone he overturned the bus and two girls died.
The prosecutor maintains that the ruling "could have been three years suspended, which would have meant release for Maldonado. I do not know if there was an exemplary ruling, but we can say that there was justice for Delfina del Bianco (11) and Mía Morán (12), the two deceased girls, who were on top of the vehicle. "
It was also taken into account for the sentence that a minor had an amputated arm and another boy definitively lost the mobility of a limb. And not to mention the psychological sequelae of many of the students who, to this day, are still in psychological treatment. All this weighed when giving the ruling."
I return from the bus of the company Silvicar, in Lezama, heading to Mundo Marino. It was November 28, 2019: 2 girls died.
The guilty Alberto Maldonado was not at the hearing. Although he will not go to jail yet, everything indicates that the final ruling will be in three or four months, when the Departmental Court of Appeals of Dolores is issued.
"God willing, Santa Claus will give us, perhaps before the end of the year, that this Mr. Maldonado will go to jail handcuffed. We expected a greater penalty, but we were also clear that they were not going to give him the maximum. Itis no longer a relief for Delfi in heaven and us here to have a little peace," shared Silvia Veiga, the mother, embraced by her husband José del Bianco, her inseparable pillar.
Veiga compares Maldonado's conviction to the recent one given to musician El Pepo Rubén Castiñeiras, who was sentenced to 4 years and seven months for speeding under the influence of narcotics and 1.02 grams of alcohol per liter of blood. "In the end, the judge wasn't so tied-down. More than Pepo, they weren't going to give him."
Silvia and José, the parents of Delfina del Bianco, together with their lawyer, present at the sentence. Photo: Gabriela Urritibehety/Dolores
Delfina's parents, who let it be known that "nothing will be enough because our daughter will not return, at least it is a sign that Justice still works. Because the comrades of Delfi and Mía, who are still very affected by everything they experienced, witnessed that whoever proceeds badly on a route, as Maldonado did, pays for it."
Affected by pain and anger, Veiga cannot hide her indignation "for the irresponsibility of a driver with a professional license and a seniority of twenty years who, going more than forty students and six teachers, looked away from the road to see a message on his cell phone going 90 kilometers. I find it unforgivable because it doesn't enter my head that this could happen."
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