BULLHEAD CITY – A local judge who thinks it’s too lenient has rejected a plea agreement proposed in a deadly Colorado River watercraft incident in Bullhead City. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert’s Tuesday rulings send attorneys back to the drawing board in the case against Iridian Bosoco.
The 27-year-old Las Vegas woman is charged with manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault for striking four people when the private watercraft she was operating at a high rate of speed entered a designated swim area in the river near Community Park on the 4th of July, 2022. 43-year-old Ricardo Almanza, Corona, California was killed while three other adults from California were injured.
Bosoco was also charged with impairment for having narcotic (oxycodone) and dangerous drugs (alprazolam) in her system at the time of the incident. The proposed plea deal required Judge Lambert to impose a four- to six-year prison term.
“The court finds this plea agreement to be woefully lenient,” Judge Lambert said. He said that light of a sentence sends the wrong message to the public about the potential consequence of operating a watercraft while impaired that enters a protected recreation zone killing one swimmer and injuring three others.
Judge Lambert told defense attorney Jack Litwak that he did a superb job with his pre-sentence memorandum that offered every ounce of mitigation possible for punishment consideration. Yet, he couldn’t justify the punishment parameters as he noted Bosoco could get decades behind bars if convicted at trial.
“Four to six years just seems to be unfair,” Lambert said. His rejection of the plea deal returns the case to presiding Judge Derek Carlisle who will reassign the matter to another judge.
