What Is the Sentence for DUI Manslaughter in Jacksonville?
The selected reports describe eight years in prison followed by five years of probation for Mendelson, and 25 years across two DUI-manslaughter counts followed by two and a half years of probation for Hernandez Martinez. The latter is one crash prosecution with two victims, not two independent case clusters or a verified 25-year single-count term. Prison and probation are separate, and the outcomes are not pooled into an eight-to-25-year count range.
Start at the Jacksonville sentence hub. Read our methodology and editorial standards.
What DUI Manslaughter Means
Florida Statutes section 316.193 defines DUI manslaughter when a person drives or controls a vehicle while impaired or over the unlawful alcohol level and, by reason of that operation, causes or contributes to another person’s death.
Statutory Framework and Historical Limits
The official Florida section 316.193(3)(c) text read in this audit ordinarily classifies DUI manslaughter as second-degree and states a four-year mandatory imprisonment minimum. Its current text also provides specified first-degree circumstances, including knowing or having reason to know of the crash and failing to give required information and aid, and a specified prior-conviction provision. The actual conduct-date law, exceptions and findings require separate review; no per-count total is inferred from a multi-victim announcement.
Observed Jacksonville Outcomes
| Reported prosecution or historical context | Source-reported location, disposition and sentence scope |
|---|---|
| Cluster 1 | Mitchel Mendelson: News4JAX’s April 4, 2022 report describes a guilty plea and eight years in prison followed by five years of probation for a July 2020 I-10 crash near Chaffee Road. It cites court records, but the original judgment and later docket were not independently inspected here; publication date is not assumed to be the sentencing date. |
| Cluster 2 | Diego Hernandez Martinez: the August 22, 2025 State Attorney release announces 25 years for two DUI-manslaughter counts followed by two and a half years of probation and permanent license suspension, after a July 9 plea. One October 3, 2024 crash at Beach Boulevard and Washburn Road killed two motorcyclists. No separate count terms or concurrency wording are supplied; neither 25 years per count nor an equal split is inferred. |
Case Sources
Cluster 1 source supports the described record and limitations, not a completed independent municipal/later-docket audit. Cluster 2 source supports the other described record; imposed or affirmed is not the same as exhausted later review.
Methodology and Limits
Two named crash prosecutions are described, not three clusters from two counts and two victims in the second crash. The agency release supplies the intersection and identifies Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office involvement, which is not independent proof of incorporated-city limits. Municipal-point and exhaustive subsequent-docket checks remain incomplete; imposed terms do not establish actual time served. Relevant available passages were actually read September 28, 2026. Imposed, probation, suspended, enhanced, consecutive and multi-count terms retain their stated scope. No common numerical range is forced.
Official Law
Limit: Two selected public-reporting clusters cannot establish a typical result. This page provides general information, not legal advice.