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Utah man sentenced to prison for drunken driving crash that killed a passenger

A Utah man — who had initially claimed he was not the driver — has been sentenced to prison for driving drunk during a 2016 crash in Tooele County that caused the death of a passenger.

Isaac James Hernandez, 29, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced Tuesday to a zero-to-five-year term at the Utah State Prison for the July 25, 2016, death of 34-year-old Scott Newman.

He had pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to third-degree felony counts of automobile homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol.

At about 2 a.m. on July 25, 2016, Hernandez was driving west on Interstate 80 near mile marker 77 — about 45 miles west of Salt Lake City — when he failed to negotiate a curve, the Utah Highway Patrol has reported.