Spanish journalist strikes plea deal in fatal Jerusalem hit-and-run
Julio de la Guardia had three times the legal alcohol limit in his blood after his car struck and killed musician Chaim Tukachinsky in September

A Spanish journalist charged in the hit-and-run killing of a Jerusalem pedestrian in September has reached a plea deal with prosecutors that will see him serving a maximum sentence of 9.5 years.
Julio de la Guardia was charged in October with manslaughter and driving under the influence of alcohol after his car hit and killed Chaim Tukachinsky, 31, an ultra-Orthodox pianist, composer and conductor, at central Jerusalem’s Paris Square as the latter was returning from prayers at the Western Wall on the first night of the Sukkot holiday.
De la Guardia was also charged with subsequently leaving the scene of the accident, running a red light, and driving over the speed limit.
He was caught by police about an hour after the accident, and was found to have a blood alcohol level three times the legal amount.
Under the plea deal, the main charge of manslaughter will be reduced to recklessness manslaughter, which carries a reduced sentence.

According to the Ynet news site, prosecutors still plan to demand the highest sentence allowed under the new charges: 9.5 years in prison.
De la Guardia had worked as a foreign correspondent in Israel for many years for a series of Spanish outlets. He was kicked out of Israel in 2011 amid a domestic violence dispute.
During the investigation into the accident, police discovered that de la Guardia also worked for a Spanish-language Iranian TV company under an assumed name. That employment was for a period of a few months, The Times of Israel learned at the time.
It was not immediately clear why de la Guardia, 51, was issued a new work visa and allowed to return to Israel following the 2011 deportation.

After the accident, de la Guardia told police that, at the time, he was fleeing three Palestinian motorcyclists who were purportedly following his car.
He also said he stopped the car a short distance from the accident, not knowing exactly what had happened, but left quickly when locals approached him and he feared they would attack him. He later approached a police patrol vehicle with its lights flashing and told the officers it was likely him that they were looking for.
Tukachinsky, formerly a resident of Kiryat Motzkin, had left his ultra-Orthodox yeshiva at the age of 18 to attend a music academy in Jerusalem, where he excelled in his undergraduate and graduate degrees.
“I never understood why people raise an eyebrow when they look at me, a Haredi person playing piano,” he told the Ynet site in 2015.
“For me, I’ve always been Haredi and always played piano. I strayed from the path [of religious study] and I left my studies in the higher institutions of yeshiva to be a professional pianist.”