Impaired driver who struck and killed a Connecticut trooper is sentenced to 18 years

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) — A man who was high on drugs when he struck and killed a Connecticut state trooper on a highway last year was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison, punishment not considered long enough by the trooper's widow.

Alex Oyola-Sanchez, 45, of Hartford, apologized and asked for forgiveness from the family of Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier during a hearing at New Britain Superior Court. State troopers and Pelletier's relatives and friends filled the courtroom.

Pelletier's widow, Dominique Pelletier, had called for a 30-year prison sentence. Their two sons were 3 and 5 years old when their father was killed.

The 18-year prison term was agreed to by the defense and prosecution when Oyola-Sanchez pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in February.

Pelletier, a nine-year veteran of the state police, was working overtime on a traffic enforcement detail on May 30, 2024, when he pulled over a driver for not wearing a seat belt on Interstate 84 in Southington. As he was talking to the driver, a pickup truck entered the right shoulder and struck Pelletier, his cruiser and the stopped vehicle before driving off.

Oyola-Sanchez was arrested several towns away on I-84 and charged with manslaughter, operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs and several other crimes. According to police, he later told investigators that he snorted fentanyl and cocaine earlier that day.

Oyola-Sanchez had previous convictions in his native Puerto Rico for third-degree murder and three counts of attempted homicide, according to a state bail commissioner.

Pelletier, a Southington native, was the 26th Connecticut trooper to die in the line of duty since the agency was founded in 1903.

Public defender Christopher Eddy, right, speaks for his client Alex Oyola-Sanchez during Oyola-Sanchez's sentencing at state Superior Court in New Britain, Conn., April 29, 2025. (Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

Alex Oyola-Sanchez looks on during his sentencing at state Superior Court in New Britain, Conn., April 29, 2025. (Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)

Alex Oyola-Sanchez, center, with his public defender Chris Eddy, right, and a Spanish interpreter during Oyola-Sanchez's sentencing at state Superior Court in New Britain, Conn., April 29, 2025. (Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Connecticut State Police, shows Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier. (Connecticut State Police via AP)

FILE - Connecticut state trooper Aaron Pelletier's casket is carried out of Xfinity Theater after his funeral in Hartford, Conn., June 5, 2024. (Aaron Flaum /Hartford Courant via AP, File)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)