UPDATE: Man gets 20 years for wreck that killed nun

MANASSAS -- A Bolivian man who had avoided deportation after numerous driving offenses was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for a drunken wreck that killed a Richmond-based Benedictine nun and seriously injured two others in 2010.

Carlos Abraham Martinelly Montano, 24, received two 20-year terms that will run concurrently after sentencing in Prince William County Circuit Court on a string of offenses including the felony murder of Sister Denise Mosier. Seriously injured in the crash were Sisters Charlotte Lange, 71, and Connie Ruth Lupton, 77.

The wreck and trial drew national attention because of Martinelly's immigration status and questions over how officials had handled his case.

Martinelly apologized in court today. He said he had become a religous person and that he wanted to minister to those in prison and people with alcohol problems.

Michael Arif, Martinelly's lead defense lawyer, said an appeal in the case will be filed over the issue of possible double jeopardy in his client's conviction of felony murder and involuntary manslaughter stemming from the same incident.

In October, Martinelly had pleaded guilty to a third offense of drunken driving, two counts of malicious wounding, one of involuntary manslaughter and one of driving without a license. He pleaded not guilty to felony murder but was convicted on that count, which carries up to 40 years in prison. His active sentence of 20 years in in the middle range of the sentencing guidelines.

Sister Charlotte, a former principal at Richmond's Saint Gertrude High School, had testified at Martinelly's trial that she was driving the group from the convent on Monument Avenue to the Benedictine Sisters monastery near Bristow in Prince William County for a 9 a.m. Mass that was to begin a weeklong retreat when the crash occurred.

She said she noticed an oncoming car and feared it was trying to pass on a two-lane road. Martinelly's car slammed against the right side of a bridge and careened to the left side of the road, striking the oncoming sisters head-on.

The sisters did not testify during sentencing.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)