A 22-year-old Fresno man has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for two crashes prosecutors say were caused by marijuana impairment, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

William Reyes Lozano pleaded guilty on Aug. 15 to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired and two counts of driving under the influence causing injury.

The sentence was handed down Thursday by Judge Jonathan Conklin in Fresno County Superior Court. Lozano faced a maximum of 13 years.

Authorities said Lozano was driving a Chevrolet Impala at high speed on June 24, 2023, when he sideswiped a parked car and struck two occupied vehicles on Cornell Avenue, injuring both occupants.

Bystanders detained him until California Highway Patrol officers arrived. Toxicology tests showed high levels of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, in his system. He was then cited to appear in court and released.

Ten days later, on July 4, 2023, police said Lozano was driving a Dodge Avenger and appeared to challenge another driver to a street race at Clinton and Maple avenues. The DA’s office said he was under the influence of marijuana during this crash.

Investigators said he was traveling up to 96 mph seconds before colliding with a motorcycle carrying Michael Timothy Connors, 55, of Fresno, and Arba Renee Smith, 50, of Clovis. Thousands of Fresno youth considered him their big brother.

Connors died at the scene, and Smith died shortly after at a hospital.

Lozano had no prior criminal record before the two crashes, according to prosecutors.

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