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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Drunk driver sentenced in death of law student

A drunk driver who hit and killed GW Law School student Seth Wadley last December pled guilty to manslaughter and received a two- to six- year prison sentence in sentencing at the D.C. Superior Court Friday, according to a Saturday Washington Post article.

Ricardo Aspillaga, 31, of Arlington, struck Wadley while speeding through a red light at the intersection of 11th and G streets NW, in the early morning of Dec. 19, according to the Post. Aspillaga had a blood-alcohol level of .22, nearly three times the legal limit of .08, The Post reported.

Judge Ann O’Regan Keary cited Aspillaga’s disregard for human life in handing down the sentence, according to The Post’s article.

District law stipulates that the charge of manslaughter can carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Wadley, from Harrisburg, Pa., earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tufts University, where he was honored as the university’s Most Outstanding Leader. Wadley, who died Dec. 20 at GW Hospital, was a semester away from graduating. He wanted to pursue a career in corporate law.

(Wadley) could start a conversation with just about anyone, Associate Professor of Law Bob Tuttle said, according to the Jan. 18 edition of The Hatchet. He was the friendliest person I knew.

-Rich Murphy

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