Driver In Deadly Cyclist Crash Takes Plea Deal

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A driver who struck two cyclists, killing one, on Key Biscayne earlier this year has accepted a plea deal.

On Tuesday Alejandro Alvarez, 22, pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter, DUI involving serious bodily injury and tampering with evidence.

In return he was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by two years of house arrest and ten years of probation. He had been looking at more than 40 years in prison.

Alvarez's license was also permanently revoked.

After a night a drinking at a Miami Beach club, Alvarez was drunk when he slammed into Walter Reyes, 51, and his friend Henry Hernandez, 40, on the morning of January 21st as they rode their bikes along Crandon Boulevard. Both men were training for the Dolphins Cycling Challenge to benefit cancer research.

Alvarez admitted that he left the scene of the crash. He the used a golf club to smash out the car's rear windo to make it appear as if it had been burglarized, according to police. He then call 911 and returned to the scene of the accident where he admitted to being the driver.

Reyes was killed in the crash, Hernandez seriously injured.

During the plea hearing, Reyes' widow Maribel told the judge, "My bubble was shattered this January. I will no longer have my best friend."

"I can never truly hate him," said Reyes' daughter Jennnifer. "But I honestly don't think I could forgive him for what he has done."

As she clutched at a gold bicycle pendant around her neck, Jennifer said " This is a symbol of my father, his bike, that no matter what, we're going to keep on riding."

The Reyes family worked with prosecutors on the terms of the plea deal.

Maribel Reyes told the court that "maintaining bitterness in my heart will not change anything" and it is "the spirit of what Walter would want."

The Reyes has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alvarez. Both Alvarez and his father Rodrigo Alvarez were named in the lawsuit. Lawyers for the Reyes family say Rodrigo Alvarez owns the car his son was driving at the time of the crash.