Prosecutors with the Troop Nola division of Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office secured a conviction for an illegal alien who was responsible for the death of beloved WGNO producer Mark Deane.

Jorge Martinez-Sanchez from Honduras, was sentenced Monday, May 12, by Judge Willard in Orleans Criminal Court, to a 10 year Department of Corrections sentence. The judge suspended 4 of those years, so Martinez-Sanchez is expected to do 6 years of that sentence. 

Martinez-Sanchez pled guilty to negligent homicide, reckless operation, and driving without a license, after hitting Mark Deane’s motorcycle on the Crescent City Connection in the morning rush hour traffic on August 23, 2024. Deane was on his way to work at the time.

“Jorge Martinez-Sanchez was an illegal alien who should have never been in this State or country to begin with. Mark Deane was a beloved member of the WGNO News team, who was working in New York a few years ago, but wanted to come back to New Orleans to take care of his aging mother and be with his son. In court today, family members and people who worked close with Mark expressed how great of a man, father, friend and co-worker he was. I continue to pray for all of his family, which extended all the way from his personal life to his professional life. If you are an illegal alien and commit a crime in Louisiana, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Attorney General Murrill.

ICE and the federal authorities have been notified about this conviction.