Cesar Ramirez-Olivas told police he drank four beers and a bottle of tequila before he drove head-on into a motorcycle south of Taos in March and killed two people, according to a police report.

"Please forgive me," a tearful Ramirez-Olivas asked family members of David T. Romero, 48, and Ramona Miera, 41, during a hearing Monday in state District Court. "I didn't know what I was doing. I was under the effects of alcohol. I had no intention of doing that."

Ramirez-Olivas, 36, was so drunk after the crash, he could hardly walk, slurred his speech so badly it was more like mumbling and had a blood alcohol content of .18 four hours later, when his blood was drawn, according to state police and a prosecutor. Romero, of Ranchos de Taos, was driving the 2006 Suzuki motorcycle north on N.M. 68 in the Horseshoe section of the road five miles south of Taos, and was pronounced dead at the scene. Miera, of Farmington, died after being airlifted to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe.

Ramirez-Olivas — a Mexican national who has lived in the Santa Fe area and worked construction for 12 years, his lawyer said — pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of vehicular homicide. District Judge Michael Vigil — who took over the case after a Taos-area judge was excused — accepted the terms of a plea deal and sentenced Ramirez-Olivas to 7 1/2 years in prison. He faced a maximum of 12 years.

After Ramirez-Olivas is released — which could occur in as little as 3 1/2 years if he behaves in prison — he will be deported back to Mexico, said Emilio Chavez, a prosecutor in the Taos District Attorney's Office. Vigil told Ramirez-Olivas that once he is deported, he can never return to the United States without permission. If he does, he could face between five and 10 years in federal prison, plus 4 1/2 more in state prison.

"I don't think you're a bad man," Vigil said. "You made a horrible mistake."

Ramirez-Olivas — who was arrested by Santa Fe police on drunken driving charges in 1998 but never prosecuted for it — was driving south on N.M. 68 about 7:50 p.m. March 8 when he crossed the center line and nearly hit two northbound vehicles, a state police spokesman said at the time. Both vehicles, which were driving in front of the motorcycle, swerved out of the way, and Ramirez-Olivas hit the motorcycle head-on, police have said.

Police found several empty beer bottles in his car, an empty fifth of tequila and another tequila bottle in his car, according to a police report.

Georgia Chavez, Miera's mother, said she didn't think the sentence was fair and believes Ramirez-Olivas got off easy because he is a Mexican citizen and could simply be deported after his prison sentence. She said she thought a 20-year sentence would better fit the crime.

Miera's two sons — ages 20 and 22 — were too traumatized to come to Monday's sentencing, she said. In addition, Miera was killed exactly one month after her younger brother died of a terminal disease, Georgia Chavez said, adding that they were her only children.

"She was in mourning" for her brother, Georgia Chavez said. "It was the first day she left the house (after his death)."

Melissa Romero, David Romero's daughter, agreed that the Ramirez-Olivas' sentence was "a little too lenient." Her younger sister, Amanda Romero, described her father as "a great person and a loving father."

"Words can't express the pain we've been going through these past five months," Amanda Romero said.

David Romero also left behind a 25-year-old son.

Juan Ramirez, Ramirez-Olivas' brother who traveled from Mexico to attend Monday's hearing, asked the Romero and Miera families for forgiveness.

"I know my brother made a mistake," he said. "He is a good man."

Luz Ramirez, Ramirez-Olivas' wife, said she and her husband have three children, ages 2, 4 and 11, and that her husband is a loving, responsible father.

"Now is the first time he'll be separated from us," she said.

Emilio Chavez — no relation to Georgia Chavez — said the previous DWI case against Ramirez-Olivas was never adjudicated, so it couldn't be used to add more time to his sentence.

Court records indicate he was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving and no license Dec. 18, 1998, but never appeared in court. A Santa Fe County Magistrate issued a bench warrant for his arrest on Feb. 5, 1999, then re-issued it nine years later, according to online court records.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.