PHOENIX – A seven-year prison term has been ordered for the Marana resident held responsible for the wreck of a Kingman Unified School District (KUSD) school bus that hurt 41 people more than 14 months ago. Nicolas Luis Rodriguez, 32, was sentenced June 15 by Pima County Superior Court Judge Casey McGinley.
Rodriguez must also pay nearly $180,000 restitution to the KUSD and crash victims.
Rodriguez is convicted of three counts of aggravated assault, criminal damage and driving while impaired to the slightest degree.
The Department of Public Safety reported that Rodriguez changed lanes when the SUV he was operating struck the driver’s side of the school bus before the bus rolled on its side in the median of Interstate 10 in Marana on April 1, 2025. The bus driver, staff and 36 students were traveling to a Future Business Leaders of America conference in Tucson.
Three students sustained serious injuries, one of them suffering amputation of multiple fingers.
