Key Biscayne musician gets 12 years in prison for cyclist’s death | Miami Herald

Over three days in court, musician Carlos Bertonatti tried everything to persuade a judge to go easy on him.

His sister and a pal told the court how Bertonatti saved their lives. A top Latin music executive testified that the Key Biscayne man had the makings of a bona fide pop star — earnings that could help pay restitution to the widow and daughter of the man Bertonatti killed.

His brother even admitted to using Bertonatti’s identity to rack up dozens of traffic tickets, an effort to soften the effect of the musician’s awful traffic history.

But in the end, the facts of the crime were too damning: Drunk after a night of partying, Bertonatti, 32, plowed his car into cyclist Christophe LeCanne on the Rickenbacker Causeway, dragging the man’s crumpled bicycle for more than two miles before the police caught up with him.

So Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Bronwyn Miller — following the state’s sentencing guidelines — sent Bertonatti to prison for 12 years.

“You are a very young man. You have a future,” Miller told him. “I truly hope you will keep your commitment to the LeCanne family.”

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