Moriarty seeks aggravated sentence for immigrant in traffic fatality case noted by White House

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office will pursue an aggravated sentence for an undocumented immigrant whose criminal charges for killing a woman while driving drunk became a talking point for the Trump administration.

German Adriano Llangari Inga, 35, was charged on May 2 in District Court in connection with a head-on collision Aug. 3, 2024, that killed Victoria Eileen Harwell, 31, of Minneapolis.

In a court filing Thursday, Moriarty’s office cited two aggravating factors in explaining why prosecutors want to pursue a sentence above state guidelines should the Minneapolis man be convicted of criminal vehicular homicide.

One factor was that his “conduct caused a greater-than-normal danger to the safety of other people, as he caused injury to others while driving grossly negligently and under the influence, [and he posed] a risk to others driving on the roads [and] crashed into multiple cars on different streets.”

The other factor was the crash occurred with a child present — Harwell’s daughter.

State guidelines in Llangari Inga’s case call for a term ranging from about 3½ to 4¾ years with four years being the presumptive sentence, County Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Borgertpoepping said.

If a jury accepts the aggravating factors, the trial judge can exceed the guideline range, he said.

At the time of the crash, Llangari Inga was subject to a 2016 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) order for expedited removal from the United States.

ICE agents arrested Llangari Inga on May 16, and he remains in federal custody in the Freeborn County jail.

The White House cited the case against the Ecuadorean national to criticize some Twin Cities elected Democrats for their policies on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.

In a statement shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune, White House spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said cases such as Inga’s are “precisely why the Trump administration is taking action to hold these so-called sanctuary jurisdictions accountable.”

According to the charges:

Surveillance video showed Llangari Inga driving an SUV east on Lowry Avenue near James Avenue N., crossing the double yellow centerline and hitting Harwell’s SUV head-on. A witness told police that Llangari Inga appeared to have been speeding before the collision.

Emergency medical responders took Harwell to a hospital, where she died. Two people riding with Harwell — her sister and teenage daughter — suffered less serious injuries.

At the hospital, police noted Llangari Inga smelled of alcohol.

While responding to the crash, police learned of another collision about seven blocks away at 34th and Penn avenues N. Surveillance video there revealed that Llangari Inga had hit another driver from behind, causing slight injuries.

Police arrested Llangari Inga that evening, and a preliminary breath test measured his blood alcohol content at 0.171%, more than twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota.

A blood test taken by police about 2½ hours later found his blood alcohol content was 0.141%.

At the time of the collisions, Llangari Inga was driving without a valid license or insurance.