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Tooele • A wrong-way drunk driver who killed three people during a head-on crash on Interstate 15 was sentenced Tuesday to prison for up to 30 years.
Paul Michael Mumford, 37, of Salt Lake City, was initially charged with three counts of murder for the July deaths of Delphine John, 44, and daughters Anaya Orozco, 3, and Deliah Ramirez, 18.
Mumford pleaded guilty last month to two reduced counts of second-degree felony manslaughter, as well as one count of second-degree felony automobile homicide.
Each count in punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Third District Judge Robert Adkins ordered two of the counts to run consecutively, and the third count to run concurrently.
Mumford apologized for his actions in the early hours of July 5, saying: "I know how selfish what I did on that day was. I'm going to have to bear the burden of a guilty conscience for the rest of my life, and I deserve that."
According to charging documents, Mumford was driving a pickup east on Interstate 80 after a trip to Wendover.
Witnesses said he was driving recklessly — veering in and out of lanes, tailgating cars — after he made a U-turn in an emergency turnaround on the freeway. The pickup then pulled over onto the shoulder for a moment before turning around and traveling east on the westbound side of the highway.
Tooele County Attorney Doug Hogan has previously said that Mumford was driving about 80 mph when he crashed head-on into a Chevy Suburban carrying the Farmington family. The Suburban was also traveling about 80 mph.
No skid marks were visible at the scene, prompting investigators to believe the crash occurred at full speed.
"That's like a 160-miles-per-hour crash," Hogan has said. "The family that he struck really had no chance. They didn't have a chance to react because, when you're driving, there should be nothing coming at you that fast."
The mother and her two daughters were killed. John's husband, Jose Adame-Orozco, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
The impact of the crash was "so violent that the engine of [the Suburban] was found approximately 10 feet away from the vehicle," according to court documents.
Mumford was taken to a hospital, where troopers interviewed him and reported that he smelled of alcohol. He told investigators he had "a couple of beers and had been at the casino for a couple of hours," officials wrote in charging documents. He told Utah Highway Patrol troopers that he fell asleep behind the wheel.
Early blood work taken at the hospital after the deadly crash indicated that Mumford's blood-alcohol content was 0.24 — three times the legal limit of 0.08, at which it is presumed safe to drive.
Mila Ramirez, the step-mother to victim Deliah Ramirez, told Mumford on Tuesday, "That decision you made ... you took our daughter. We're going to have to live with that pain forever.
"We don't hate you, but you do have to pay for what you did."