A Milwaukee man was sentenced to 12 years in prison and six years of extended supervision after he pleaded guilty to killing a man with his vehicle in November 2024, according to online court records.
Leonel Molina Rios, 60, entered that guilty plea for one felony count of homicide by use of vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration as part of a plea agreement on March 12. Judge David Borowski sentenced him on May 22.
As part of the agreement, one felony count of knowingly driving without a valid license causing death was dismissed but read in and one felony count of homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle was dismissed.
Crash happened at Lovers Lane and Rawson Avenue
According to the criminal complaint:
Molina Rios collided with a 74-year-old Franklin man in a construction zone at the intersection of South Lovers Lane Road and West Rawson Avenue on Nov. 2, 2024.
Molina Rios was driving a Ford Expedition while the other man was in a Honda CRV. A bystander, who told police he was a firefighter, administered CPR to the Franklin man until the Franklin Fire Department arrived to provide medical treatment.
The 74-year-old was declared dead on-scene.
Molina Rios also received care and was taken to West Allis Memorial Hospital.
During the initial investigation, the Wisconsin State Patrol’s Technical Reconstruction Unit concluded the Expedition crossed the center line and caused the head-on collision with the Honda.
Molina Rios told police he’d been drinking at the Irish Cottage earlier that day and had two shots of whiskey and three Miller Lite beers. He told officers he believed he was impaired when he left the Irish Cottage.
Police spoke with an Irish Cottage bartender, who said a patron named “Leo” drank between four and six beers along with two shots of “Jack.”
Franklin delays approval of license for Irish Cottage
Former Franklin Mayor Steve Olson sent a letter to Franklin’s license committee and Police Chief Craig Liermann May 4 asking the committee to delay approval of a Class B combination entertainment and amusement license for the Irish Cottage until the committee and council “consider whether the licensee violated law and/or the terms of the license.” In his letter, Olson named the victim of the crash as James Riegling.
“Franklin has traditionally taken these matters very seriously and demanded accountability from the tavern owner as well as the serving bartenders,” Olson wrote. “The head-on crash that killed this father, husband, grandfather and great friend to many was entirely preventable if the tavern trained their bartenders appropriately and if the bartender did as the law requires and quit serving an intoxicated patron.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reached out to the Irish Cottage for comment but did not hear back.
During Franklin’s May 5 Common Council meeting, Alderperson Michelle Eichmann, who sits on the license committee, requested the council hold the approval of the license for Irish Cottage. She said the council has until June 30 to approve it.
Both the license committee and council will consider the matter again during their respective meetings on June 2.
Olson sent a follow-up email May 15 thanking the council for holding the liquor license.
“That’s a good step and I thank you for it and Jim Riegling’s widow thanks you for it,” Olson wrote in the email sent to the council and police chief. “Now comes the hard work that needs courage in your convictions.”
Contact Erik at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Follow his Facebook page, The Redheadliner Erik S. Hanley, and follow him on X @Redheadliner.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man gets 12 years in prison in fatal Franklin crash
Reporting by Erik S. Hanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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