DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman sentenced a 1997 double homicide defendant to 24 years according to pre-2000 sentencing guidelines on July 16.
Oscar Diaz-Romero, 48, was convicted by a jury on March 25 of two counts of second-degree murder for his involvement in an Aug. 9, 1997 fatal shooting that killed 22-year-old Jose Noel Coreas-Carcaro and 27-year-old Jose Molina at a restaurant on the 2400 block of 18th Street, NW. After the shooting, Diaz-Romero left the United States and traveled to El Salvador, where he was extradited from in January 2025.
Diaz-Romero spoke at the sentencing, highlighting the changes he had made while living life in El Salvador and the challenges he has undergone since being incarcerated.
“I am just a normal person, just like every one of you,” Diaz-Romero said.
He also emphasized his religious beliefs, explaining that he had “walked in the Lord’s path.” He asked Judge Edelman to “put his hand on his conscience” when delivering the sentencing.
“I am not the person they say I am,” Diaz-Romero said.
In addition to pointing to evidence from the jury trial, the prosecution read letters from Coreas-Carcaro and Molina’s families. Molina’s sister wrote that “[Molina’s] absence has left a permanent emptiness.”
Coreas-Carcaro’s family member wrote that “a family never truly recovers from such an atrocious crime.” The prosecution asked for 18 consecutive years for each charge.
Diaz-Romero’s attorney, Julie Swaney, pointed to letters written by family members and religious personnel that were included in the defense’s pre-sentencing report. Swaney emphasized that in the almost 30 years that have elapsed since the crime, Diaz-Romero had undergone “rehabilitative efforts” while living life in El Salvador and is now an “exemplary person.”
“This turnaround would be something almost the court would put on its website,” Swaney said.
Swaney also noted that Diaz-Romero had spent one year in an El Salvadoran prison while awaiting extradition to the United States. She described the conditions in the prison as “human rights violations,” adding that Diaz-Romero had undergone traumatic experiences there. Swaney requested that given the facts, Judge Edelman credit this time served as longer than one year when giving Diaz-Romero credit in the sentencing.
Swaney ultimately requested a sentencing range between 20-and-60 years, with each count being sentenced to five-to-15 years, and credit for time served.
Judge Edelman imposed a sentence of 24-to-72 years for each count, suspending all but 24 concurrent years for each and three years of probation. Diaz-Romero will also be ordered to pay $200 to the Victims of Violent Crime fund and would have to register as a firearm offender upon release.
Judge Edelman explained that he legally must impose the sentencing guidelines in place at the time the crime was committed. Before 2000, sentences were to be given a range, rather than a definitive value.
Judge Edelman described the sentencing decision as “agonizing.” He noted the impact of the crime on the victims while also pointing out that Diaz-Romero had appeared to have made considerable changes in his life. He noted that the pre-sentencing report indicated a stage of advanced rehabilitation that Judge Edelman had never seen before on a report.
“He presents to me as a very different person than he was in 1997,” Judge Edelman said.
No further dates were set.
