Man pleads guilty in fatal DWI crash near Brevard

BREVARD – A man will spend nearly two years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with an impaired driving crash in Pisgah National Forest.

Carlos Soloman-Ramon, 20, entered the plea in Transylvania County Superior Court, District Attorney Greg Newman said. Judge Mark Powell sentenced Soloman-Ramon to 21 months in state prison.

Soloman-Ramon was the driver in a single-vehicle accident involving an SUV with seven people inside on Aug. 3, 2014. According to the Highway Patrol, he was impaired when the wreck happened on Fish Hatchery Road in Pisgah National Forest north of Brevard.

A passenger, Juan Lopez, 29, died in the accident.

Soloman-Ramon was traveling north when he entered a curve and ran off the right side of the road, according to the Highway Patrol. His 2004 Ford Explorer then traveled across the road and overturned on the left shoulder.