Immigration Official: Man Charged In Drunken-Driving Deaths Was In U.S. Illegally

RALEIGH, N.C. — A man accused in the drunken-driving deaths of two people on Thanksgiving is apparently in the United States illegally.

Authorities said Eduardo Raul Morales-Soriano is from Mexico and lives in Maryland. He faces several charges in the deaths of Marine Corporal Brian Mathews and his date, Jennifer Bower.

Mathews finished eight months of duty in Iraq last year and was looking forward to leaving the military in June.

Morales-Soriano, who police said had a blood-alcohol level four times the legal limit for driving, was not injured in the crash. He was being held in the Howard County Detention Center on $830,000 bail.

There was no record of Morales-Soriano, a Mexican citizen who worked as a landscaper, entering the U.S. legally, said James Dinkins, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in Baltimore.

Morales-Soriano used his North Carolina driver's license issued Feb. 5, 2004, to obtain a license in Maryland on July 8, 2005, according to Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, The (Baltimore) Sun reported.

In February, Morales-Soriano refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene of a non-injury accident but his license was never suspended, police said.