HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Anna Moon, Jeremy Moon's widow, is comforted by loved ones after the hearing at which David Cleveland pleaded guilty to two felony charges. Advertisement

David Cleveland, 53, narrowly avoided going to trial by pleading guilty Monday afternoon.

Cleveland was set to stand trial for six felony offenses that stemmed from his involvement in a head-on collision Thanksgiving Day of last year that killed Jeremy Moon, 27, of Fontana, Calif., and seriously injured his wife, Anna Moon.

The Moons' cousin, Pahrump Valley High School student Crystal Lopez, was also severely injured in the crash.

Instead, Cleveland pleaded guilty to one felony count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance (listed in the criminal complaint as cocaine) causing death, and an additional felony count of driving under the influence causing substantial bodily harm.

Both felonies carry a sentence of two to 20 years each, but under the plea agreement Cleveland agreed to serve at least eight years for the first charge and six years for the latter.

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said the state will argue for the maximum sentence on both charges to be served consecutively.

The defense retained the right to argue for a reduced sentence and will do so at a hearing scheduled for early May.

Each charge carries a maximum fine of $5,000.

But that isn't the end of Cleveland's financial woes.

The plea agreement also stipulated that Cleveland pay the Moon family restitution of $181,970.

The financial strain of Cleveland's year-long legal wrangling, which included changing attorneys a number of times and having to pay for delays he caused at the justice court level, were revealed at the hearing.

Cleveland informed the court he did not have enough liquid capital available to him to write out a check for the full amount prior to his sentencing, as the agreement stipulated.

Osvaldo Fumo, one of Cleveland's team of defense attorneys, added that Cleveland would have to sell some property before he could pay the full amount.

Beckett said the state would be willing to work something out with the defense to ensure the sentencing hearing is not delayed because the defendant is waiting for property to be sold.

He later confirmed a check was given to Eldon Moon, Jeremy's father, for $60,000 after the hearing.

The Moon family, all of whom attended the hearing, was directly addressed by Cleveland.

At first it seemed as though Cleveland (who had attempted to plead guilty by reason of insanity and then entered a plea of not guilty) would continue to maintain he wasn't at fault for the accident.

"It would all come down to approximate cause," Cleveland began. "Unfortunately Chrysler erased..." he trailed off.

He abruptly changed his tune, going on to say, "That's not the only reason why I'm doing this. I need to stand up for what I did. I got four attorneys here costing me a lot of money and I don't want to be known as a man who bought his way out of this.

"I want to be here today and take my sentencing, to say how sorry I am to the family, because I sure am," Cleveland said, beginning to cry.

He described how, at the scene of the accident, "I was right there, asking for the spirit to come down and help the father ... I was there, I went to see if (Anna Moon) was OK, but it didn't help -- it didn't help to do any of that."

Through more tears, Cleveland said he hoped he'd have an opportunity to meet with the family and "tell them how sorry I truly am."

Cleveland's sudden show of remorse did little to comfort Eldon Moonr.

When asked if he thought Cleveland really was remorseful, he broke down into tears and said, "Not one bit. And that's harder to take than if someone had done this and it was just an accident. His decision has sentenced my grandson to a life without his father."

The Moons' grandson was less than a year old at the time of the accident.

Eldon Moon went on to say he hopes the judge will give Cleveland the maximum sentence.

"No matter what Cleveland gets, it'll never be enough," he said. "You're never satisfied because it doesn't replace what was lost."

However, the grieving father did express relief at not having to go through a trial.

Margie Moon, Jeremy Moon's mother, brought a photo of her son to the hearing and said through her own tears that "it does help, not having to hear everything and go through everything."

Due to Cleveland's yearlong attempts to wriggle through legal loopholes, Eldon Moon said the healing process wouldn't truly begin until a final sentence was handed down.

"This is the beginning," he said. "It's something where until this ends, we're still waiting for a phone call, wondering what he's going to try to do now, or hear about something he pulled. We need this to be concluded before we get any kind of closure."

Beckett said the plea agreement was the result of "dozens and dozens of hours in the conference room with the defense counsel."

He added that Cleveland's guilty plea avoided what was bound to be a "very, very technical trial" that would have included 70 witnesses, including 12 experts who would have come at the expense of the state.

In addition to saving a significant amount of money, Cleveland's plea also shuts the door on any appeal process.

Or, as the district attorney put it, "Any perceived games have been ended right there."