WEST PALM BEACH — A judge sentenced a Lake Worth Beach man this week to at least five years in prison and revoked his driver’s license for life after he pleaded guilty to one count of DUI manslaughter in the 2021 death of a motorcyclist.

Sebastian Ramirez, 34, also pleaded guilty to one count of driving with a suspended, canceled or revoked license causing death in the Oct. 15, 2021, crash that killed Damian Martinez, 48, of Palm Beach Shores.

Ramirez must serve a minimum of four years of a seven-year prison term for the DUI manslaughter charge and five years on the suspended license charge. During a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 30, Circuit Judge Sarah Willis ordered that Ramirez’s sentences be served concurrently.

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Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigators said the two-vehicle crash occurred at the intersection of 10th Avenue North and North H Street, about one mile northeast of Lake Worth High School.

Investigators said Ramirez drove his southbound Dodge minivan into the intersection after stopping at a traffic sign, crossing into the path of Martinez’s eastbound Yamaha KZ motorcycle.

The Yamaha struck the front passenger-side corner of the Dodge, and the impact threw Martinez to the pavement. The Dodge veered onto a sidewalk curb and hit the west wall of a home.

PBSO investigators noted that Ramirez smelled of alcohol. They reported finding open cans of beer inside his vehicle.

Paramedics took Ramirez to HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis, where the medical staff collected samples of his blood. The medical staff confirmed to an investigator that Ramirez tested positive for alcohol in his blood, although his arrest report did not indicate what his blood-alcohol level was. In Florida, .08 is the minimal blood-alcohol level in which a driver is presumed to be driving under the influence.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge sentences van driver in 2021 crash that killed motorcyclist