An Allentown man is headed to prison for a double fatal crash in Whitehall Township that authorities said was blamed on motorcycle racing.
Christian Joel Gonzalez-Santiago, 28 was sentenced Friday to between 2 1/2 and five years in prison, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney. He had pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, admitting that prosecutors have enough evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
The 2022 crash claimed the lives of Jose Estrada-Estrada, 42, of Reading, the other motorcyclist, and 16-year-old Mia G. Due, a Whitehall High School student.
In July 2022, police were called to a crash on MacArthur Road at Mechanicsville Road for an accident involving two motorcyclists who were accused of racing, and a Jeep Renegade.
Gonzalez-Santiago and Estrada-Estrada were racing on their motorcycles at speeds that exceeded 80 mph, according to the district attorney. The state argued that those fatalities were a result of the vehicles racing at the high speed.
Due was a passenger in the Jeep that collided with the motorcycle driven by Estrada-Estrada, police said.
Estrada-Estrada and Due were pronounced dead at the scene from blunt force trauma, according to authorities. The Lehigh County Coroner ruled the deaths as accidental.
Jelani Gibson is a cannabis and politics reporter for NJ.com. He can be reached at jgibson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jelanigibson1 and on LinkedIn.