Drunk driver gets 10 years, lifetime driving ban for deaths of Filipino dad, daughter

Sandon Igne, of Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii, was also banned from getting a driver’s license for life. HPD

KAUAI, Hawaii – A 33-year-old drunk driver was sentenced to ten years in prison Monday, May 15 for causing the deaths Eugenia Villanueva and her father, Delfin Geronimo, in a vehicle crash on Christmas Eve in 2020.

Sandon Igne, of Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii, was also banned from getting a driver’s license for life.

At approximately 4 p.m. on December 24, 2020, after consuming multiple alcoholic beverages at Rob’s Good Times Grill in Līhu‘e, Igne headed westbound on Kaumuali‘i Highway.

Near Knudsen Gap, he drove off the right side of the roadway, then veered back across the roadway, crossing the westbound lane and the double solid yellow line before crashing into a vehicle traveling eastbound.

His driving resulted in the death of Eugenia Villanueva and Delfin Geronimo and caused substantial bodily injury to two other occupants of the vehicle.

More than two hours after the crash, Igne’s blood alcohol content was 0.133 gms/100 cc of whole blood.

Eugenia Villanueva and her father, Delfin Geronimo, were killed by a drunk driver in 2020. FACEBOOK

On November 29, 2022, Igne entered a No Contest plea to two counts of Negligent Homicide in the First Degree, two counts of Negligent Injury in the Second Degree and Inattention to Driving.

Negligent Homicide in the First Degree carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison with a maximum $25,000 fine. The ten year sentence handed to Igne is to run concurrently.

Prosecuting Attorney Rebecca Like stated, “This case is one of the most tragic cases I have seen in my career. The loss and injury to multiple family members on Christmas Eve is horrific. We cannot bring back the lives of Eugenia Villanueva and Delfin Geronimo, but we hope that this sentencing allows the family to start to heal.”