SAN ANTONIO — A then-Bexar County sheriff's deputy who was arrested for hitting and killing a man while driving drunk in California has been convicted of murder and sentenced to prison.
Giovanni Ceja had been with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office for five years when he was dishonorably discharged last August. He was booked into the same jail where he worked before being extradited back west.
"My understanding is he was talking to California authorities since then and couldn't even get his story straight," Sheriff Javier Salazar said when announcing the arrest on August 14.
Salazar at the time said Ceja was vacationing in California when he drank "a significant amount of alcohol" before driving on the highway and hitting 38-year-old Gilberto Sotelo, who was on the side of the road fueling his car. Investigators said Ceja fled, but part of the damaged car, which belonged to a relative, was left at the scene.
The Riverside County District Attorney's Office announced the conviction Tuesday, adding Ceja was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.
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