Anchorage man sentenced to over 13 years for 2018 crash that killed taxi driver

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A man that pleaded guilty to killing an Anchorage cab driver in October 2018 was sentenced Friday to 13 years and one month in prison by an Anchorage judge.

Jose Angel Ibarra, 28, was driving south on the Old Seward Highway in excess of 85 mph when he collided with the Yellow Cab company taxi that 68-year-old Bruce Orton was driving at East 79th Avenue in the early morning hours of Oct. 14, 2018. The crash killed Orton.

The ensuing investigation determined that Ibarra was driving under the influence, with a blood alcohol level of 0.101, and Ibarra later admitted to Anchorage police that he had used heroin and marijuana, in addition to drinking that night. He was also using a suspended driver’s license.

Ibarra pled guilty on June 15, 2022, to manslaughter, third-degree escape and driving under the influence.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby sentenced Ibarra to 12 years for the manslaughter charge and one year for the escape charge, with an additional 30 days for the DUI charge. The State of Alaska also requested that Saxby give Ibarra five years of probation, suspend an additional eight years of jail time and permanently revoke Ibarra’s license.

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