A Texas man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being involved in a fatal drunk driving crash in Iberia parish.

Jesse Romero, Jr. pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of retired St. Mary Parish teacher, Jody Marie Charpentier.

Last April, Romero, who had a .22 BAC, steered his pickup truck across the centerline of La. 86, when he struck Charpentier.

Lafayette attorney, Thomas Guilbeau of Guilbeau and Robideaux Law Firm says it’s a tragedy all around, and he believes it could have all been prevented had Romero not gotten behind the wheel after drinking.

Guilbeau says he wasn’t surprised to find out that Romero had previous drunk driving charges, explaining that multiple DWI charges are typical.

“That has been a problem with people that drink and drive. [They] are repeat offenders it seems, more and more and more,” says Guilbeau.

According to the CDC, nationally, 1.9% of adults reported driving after drinking too much. But in louisiana, 2.5% percent reported to doing so. 

The CDC also reports that Louisiana has a higher rate of deaths in DWI crashes than the national average, causing more than 3,000 deaths from 2003 to 2012.

Guilbeau says there are many ways of getting help after receiving a DWI so that tragic events like this one can be avoided.

“We’ve come a long ways with DWIs and we recognize alcoholism as a medical condition. We have drug courts for people that can get into it, and everybody’s given the chance with DWIs to change their ways and they should take that. [Romero] had three chances [to change his ways]. He never took it.”