Men plead guilty to vehicular homicides in Brookings, Rapid City

SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Two men have pleaded guilty in separate South Dakota vehicular homicide cases.

Thirty-one-year-old Jason Soldwisch of Box Elder is accused of driving drunk in a vehicle rollover crash last August in Rapid City that killed a passenger, 31-year-old Jason Burke of Rockerville. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors will recommend a prison sentence of no more than 7 ½ years. Soldwisch is to be sentenced Feb. 21.

In the other case, 18-year-old Jose Hernandez admitted drinking and driving a vehicle that ran a red light at a Brookings intersection last September and crashed into another vehicle, killing 17-year-old John Bennett. Hernandez fled the scene but a day later turned himself in to authorities in Austin, Texas. He faces up to 17 years in prison when he's sentenced Feb. 14.

Tags: vehicular homicide, drunken driving, news, updates, state, crime, dui