HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA. — A Tampa man already on probation for drunk driving was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday for DUI manslaughter after causing a crash that killed a motorcyclist.
A jury in January found Jose Perez, 29, guilty of the fatal crash that occurred at about 7:50 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2023.
He was sentenced to 15 years in Florida State Prison, followed by 5 years of probation.
Perez was driving on U.S. Highway 41 in Apollo Beach when he rear-ended Richard Daviau, of Massachusetts, who was riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, according to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, 13th Judicial Circuit. Daviau died at the scene.
Evidence at the trial showed Perez had been drinking before the crash. Surveillance video captured him purchasing alcohol earlier that night, and his blood alcohol content was .14, nearly twice the legal limit.
At the time of the crash, Perez was driving without a valid driver’s license and was on probation for a separate DUI case, records showed.
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