A Tennessee man who had been given a chance to serve an eight-year manslaughter sentence on supervised probation is headed to prison after his fourth DUI ended with a car crashing through a church playground fence and into a tree.
Pedro Gonzalez, 26, pleaded guilty Friday to DUI and received a one-year sentence, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. More consequentially, the new offense caused a judge to revoke the supervised probation Gonzalez had received earlier this year on an eight-year voluntary manslaughter sentence.
The sentences will run consecutively, leaving Gonzalez with nine years to serve in prison, Hamilton County prosecutor Paul Moyle told the newspaper.
The DUI stemmed from a June 7 crash at New City Fellowship in Chattanooga. Police said a black sedan left the roadway, went through the church’s playground fence, and hit a tree on the west side of the building.
Police Found Gonzalez Stumbling After the Crash
Chattanooga police responded to New City Fellowship, located at 2424 E. 3rd St., after receiving reports that a black sedan had crashed on the church property and its driver had run away.
A witness told officers the sedan and another vehicle swerved to avoid each other before the sedan lost control. The witness said the driver climbed out through the front passenger-side door and ran down the street.
Officers soon encountered Gonzalez stumbling nearby with minor injuries to his head and face, according to the police report obtained by the Times Free Press.
The responding officer’s description of trying to read Gonzalez his Miranda rights gives some idea of his condition: “I attempted to mirandise Mr. Gonzalez, but Mr. Gonzalez appeared too intoxicated to speak.”
Gonzalez was taken to a hospital, where police said he consented to a blood draw that was sent for testing.
He initially faced charges including DUI, driving on a revoked license, and leaving the scene of an accident. Defense attorney Chad Wilson told the Times Free Press that Gonzalez decided accepting a negotiated plea agreement was in his best interest rather than taking the fourth DUI charge to trial.
Under the agreement, prosecutors dismissed the remaining charges, and Gonzalez cannot appeal either his new sentence or the sentence from his earlier case.
The Crash Put an 8-Year Suspended Sentence Back Into Play
The one-year DUI sentence accounts for only a small part of Gonzalez’s nine years behind bars.
In December 2025, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and his third DUI in connection with the 2023 shooting death of 34-year-old Marcos Ortiz Rodriguez. The voluntary manslaughter conviction carried an eight-to-12-year sentence.
The shooting case was unusually complicated because it happened inside a vehicle. Moyle previously explained that Tennessee law can treat an occupied motor vehicle as an extension of a person’s home, leaving a potential jury to determine whether the shooting was legally justified as self-defense.
Gonzalez ultimately pleaded guilty rather than taking that question to trial.
At his February sentencing, Gonzalez received a rare opportunity to serve his eight-year sentence on supervised probation rather than in prison. He told the court he accepted responsibility and wished he could go back and make a different decision.
Less than four months later came the church playground crash and fourth DUI.
A Fourth DUI Carries Felony Consequences in Tennessee
Tennessee law becomes considerably tougher once a driver reaches a fourth DUI conviction. Under Tennessee’s DUI sentencing law, a fourth or subsequent DUI is a Class E felony, with a minimum period of incarceration required upon conviction.
In Gonzalez’s case, however, the new DUI carried another consequence beyond its own sentence: it cost him the opportunity to remain on probation for the manslaughter conviction.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Gonzalez chose to engage in further criminal conduct, and there is a punishment for that,” Moyle told the Times Free Press after Friday’s hearing. “And that punishment is going to prison.”
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the fourth DUI, so that charge is no longer merely an accusation. The other charges arising from the June crash were dismissed as part of the negotiated plea agreement.