TRENTON — A driver whose three friends were killed when his car crashed into a parked tractor trailer is now headed to prison.

Luis Delcid-Cardona had pleaded guilty in March to three counts of vehicular manslaughter stemming from the December 2013 crash on Interstate 95 in Lawrence.

Delcid-Cardona was living in the country illegally at the time of the crash. Authorities say he will face deportation to Guatemala once he completes his sentence.

The crash killed Hamilton residents Samantha Belliveau, 18, and Nicole Rodriguez, 20, and Jonathan Rivas, 19, of Princeton.

The 22-year-old Trenton man received a five-year sentence on each count, but the terms imposed Tuesday will run concurrently. He earlier rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 10 years.

Mercer County prosecutors have said Delcid-Cardona drank three or four beers before he started driving. But his attorney has raised questions about that and claimed weather conditions, including snow and road ice, were the primary cause of the accident.

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