'The pain is indescribable': Victims' families speak out as Abdi Ahmed sentenced to 30 years' prison for crash that killed 3 in Green Bay
GREEN BAY - Abdi Ahmed of Green Bay was sentenced to 30 years in prison for causing a high-speed crash that killed three people in 2020, but for the victims' family, the pain will never go away.
"It hits me like a deep stab in the heart," said the mother of 28-year-old Jesse Saldana on Monday. "Our son, our brother, never got to meet his nephew. The pain is indescribable. … His life was cut short in its prime."
Ahmed, 24, pleaded guilty on June 6 to three counts of reckless homicide for driving his vehicle into a car, killing three people in the vehicle, Jesse Saldana, 28, and passengers Sonia Gonzalez-Guillen, 27, and her mother, Sonia V. Gonzalez, 57. Saldana and Gonzalez-Guillen had planned to marry.
On Monday, Ahmed was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, followed by 10 years of probation, for each of three counts of second-degree reckless homicide to which he had pleaded guilty.
Brown County Circuit Judge John Zakowski called the case probably the most difficult he'd handled in nearly 40 years as a defense attorney, prosecutor and judge. He ordered the sentences served consecutively.
Ahmed could have been sentenced to as many as 45 years in prison, followed by up to 45 years' probation.
Hector Guillen, another relative of the victims, remains angry about his loss. After saying in Spanish that he holds no ill will toward Ahmed's family members who came to the United States seeking "a better life," he told Ahmed "the devil will visit you. And your cellmates will hear you scream."
He cited the fact that Ahmed continued to drive recklessly after multiple warnings about his driving.
Prior to the fatal crash on June 28, 2020, Ahmed's vehicle had been involved in a combination of six traffic stops and reckless driver complaints that year, according to the criminal complaint. That includes one at 10 p.m. June 20, 2020, eight days before the fatal crash, for driving 90 mph without any lights on, the criminal complaint said. He was cited in March 2020 for reckless driving and speeding.
Ahmed also had family in the courtroom. They did not speak during the sentencing.
Zakowski, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee and others who spoke of the case agreed it was a senseless act that had ended three people's lives as they made their way to visit the Lombardi Avenue Kwik Trip.
Ahmed, before being sentenced, insisted he was "not a bad person," but had committed a selfish act in driving at racetrack speeds that led to the horrible crash.
"I vow to live a better life," Ahmed said, in a strong, clear voice. He said he wants to be an advocate who educates young drivers "about the harm reckless driving can do."
Investigators said Ahmed was driving like he was drag racing on the day of the crash. Zakowski said Ahmed made a jackrabbit start from a light on Lombardi Avenue, swerved around another car, and accelerated from 84 mph to 104 mph seconds before his Dodge Charger plowed into the Saldana car near the entrance to the convenience store.
Lasee said Ahmed had clearly engaged in "reckless, criminal behavior" behind the wheel before the day of the crash. After the crash, Lasee said, records show that Ahmed claimed to two police officers that he had been driving 35 mph when the crash occurred. Witnesses, however, contradicted that, saying Ahmed's car was moving so fast that the force of the collision caused the second car to roll over four or five times when it was broadsided by Ahmed's vehicle.
"He was clear-headed and unimpaired … on a Sunday afternoon," Lasee told the court. "And everyone else’s lives be damned."
Ahmed's defense attorneys said he feels terrible about taking three lives. Attorney Marc Gottreich pointed out that Ahmed doesn't touch alcohol or drugs, had contributed money from working 56 or 57 hours a week to fund his sister's college tuition, and didn't try to flee the crash scene.
Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 431-8333, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Abdi Ahmed sentenced for Green Bay crash that killed three people
