Repeat offender who struck and killed CT State Trooper Aaron Pelletier sentenced to 18 years | Law Enforcement Today

NEW BRITAIN, CT - On Tuesday, April 29th, 45-year-old Alex Oyola-Sanchez, a repeat offender who had previous convictions in his native Puerto Rico for third-degree murder and three counts of attempted homicide, was sentenced to 18 years for crashing into Connecticut State Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier on Interstate 84 in Southington in May of 2024.

According to NBC Connecticut, Oyola-Sanchez accepted a plea deal after being charged with manslaughter in the second degree, operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol, evading responsibility death, and other charges. During his sentencing, he said through a translator, "I'm sorry because it was not my intention. I ask the family for forgiveness."

Authorities said that Trooper Pelletier had stopped another vehicle on I-84 East in Southington and Oyola-Sanchez drove into the shoulder, hit Pelletier and his vehicle, and kept going until his tire failed on I-84 East in Farmington. He was captured moments after that and was arrested.

The arrest report states that Oyola-Sanchez told police he took fentanyl, cocaine, and what he believed was Klonopin before the fatal incident. Trooper Pelletier left behind his wife, Dominique, and their two young sons, Troy and Zachary. In February, she spoke in court, sharing the pain she went through while telling their two young sons that their father had died.

She said she wanted the man who caused her husband's death to serve a 30-year sentence. Reading her victim-impact statement, she said, "I stand before you today in the same dress I wore to bury my husband, the same dress I wore to hold my two little boys in while they cried tears for their father, the same dress I never imagined I'd be wearing again. Never imagined I'd be standing before a courtroom fighting for justice for my husband's wrongful death."

She added, "I feel it's unfair to allow this man to enter back into society while our children are still minors. How am I supposed to protect them from this evil?" On Tuesday, during the sentencing, Master Sgt. Todd Fedigan, of the CT State Police Union, spoke and asked the judge to impose the maximum allowable sentence.

WFSB reported that he said, "Trooper Pelletier was not only an amazing husband and father, he was a brother to over 900 CT State Troopers who still mourn his death." The prosecutor on the case said, "He's the definition of a life well lived, but that life was tragically cut short by the callous actions of Oyola-Sanchez."

The conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, but Oyola-Sanchez will only serve 18 years under the terms of the plea deal. To some of the Pelletier's and members of the state police, 18 years is not nearly enough. It was lowered from 20 years to avoid going to trial. Fedigan said, "We're disappointed, but we respect the court's decision today. No sentence will bring our brother Aaron back."

Eight years before Pelletier's death, Oyola-Sanchez was convicted in Puerto Rico of murdering three people. He served just over nine years for those killings before his release. Prosecutors said, "His jail sentence didn't rehabilitate him in anyway. He simply came to the US and began his drug fueled existence."

Andy Matthews, President of the CT State Police Union said, "The trauma lives, it's deep. Aaron had a three and five year old son. It's worse when children are involved." Fedigan added, "This was a senseless tragedy that changed all of our lives forever."

FOX61 shared the statement from CT State Police Colonel Daniel Loughman on the sentencing of Oyola-Sanchez. It said, in part:

"...On behalf of the Connecticut State Police and the Pelletier family, I submitted a letter that was included in the Pre-Sentence Investigation. In my statement, I asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence for Aaron's killer. There is no preparation for a day like May 30, 2024, the day Aaron was taken from us. His bright future was tragically stolen from him and his beloved family, and due to the reckless actions of the defendant, Aaron became the 26th Connecticut Trooper to be killed in the line of duty.

We still feel the pain of that fateful day. No words are adequate to explain what we lost. His classmates from the 125th Training Troop lost a dear brother. The Troopers at Troop H lost someone who was much more than a co-worker, he was a friend. The loss experienced by the Connecticut State Police is nothing compared to the heartbreak of the Pelletier family.

Dominique lost her loving husband and young Troy and Zachary lost a critical pillar in their lives ... Their pain is felt throughout the State Police family, Connecticut law enforcement organizations, and our entire community."