A Fresno man with a history of impaired driving convictions has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a fatal crash that killed his passenger in 2021, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release.

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Joey Barron, 35, of Fresno, received the sentence on Tuesday from the Fresno County Superior Court after pleading guilty to the charge of murder in August. Thirty-year-old Andres Adrian Romero died in the Jan. 2, 2021 crash.

Authorities said Barron was driving westbound on Highway 168 near the Shields Avenue offramp just after midnight when he lost control of his vehicle at high speed.

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The car rolled off the embankment, killing Romero. Barron’s blood alcohol concentration was measured at .32%, four times the legal limit. Investigators also found marijuana in his system.

Barron was previously convicted of reckless driving involving alcohol in 2012. At the time, he was advised that future DUI-related deaths could lead to murder charges. He was arrested for DUI again in 2016 but failed to appear in court.

The case was prosecuted under the Alcohol and Drug Impaired Driver Vertical Prosecution Program, funded by a California Office of Traffic Safety grant through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Fresno County DA Receives Grant for ‘Epidemic’ DUI Rate

Recently, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office received a $665,900 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to enhance efforts against impaired driving.

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Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp called the county’s DUI rate an ‘epidemic.’ At that time, Smittcamp said 3,556 misdemeanor DUI cases and 232 felony cases had been filed in 2024, not including the upcoming holiday season.

In comparison, there were 3,892 misdemeanors and 270 felonies in all of 2022, and 4,840 misdemeanors and 308 felonies in 2023.