Former Marine pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2020 DUI case
A former Marine returned to court last week and pleaded guilty to manslaughter related to a three-car, alcohol-induced collision.
On Wednesday (February 25), Gregory Wayne Oldham returned to court for an Early Disposition Hearing before Judge Sarah Oliver. District Attorney Jason Gueltzow was present for the prosecution, and Attorney Marcia Brewer represented the Conflict Panel. In May of 2020, Oldham, then an active-duty Marine at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, was arrested and charged with murder and driving under the influence, causing bodily injury or death. He initially entered a plea of not guilty and has remained in custody since.
On October 19, 2019, Oldham, then 19, was driving eastbound on Twentynine Palms Highway east of Rotary Way with Lane Notah, an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy. According to the District Attorney, Oldham was driving at approximately 116 miles per hour and crossed lanes into oncoming traffic, colliding with an Audi carrying three Marines en route to the movies. Notah and Menachem Goldbloom were killed, and Quinton Johnson and Nicolas Gathwright sustained critical, career-ending injuries. The District Attorney states that the collision left extensive debris across the highway, including alcohol containers; two other individuals were injured when their vehicle collided with the wreckage. Traffic in both directions, across all four lanes of the highway, was shut down for approximately 16 hours.
The investigation into the collision was led by Detective Shane Crowl of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Accident Investigation team. According to Gueltzow, this included obtaining records from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service on Oldham’s previous incidents with underage alcohol consumption. The process led to the seven-month delay between the collision and arrest and impacted the charges filed.
At the hearing on Wednesday, the courtroom was heavy with emotion as four victim statements were read on the record. Statements were submitted by Gathwright, his parents, and both Goldie and Aryeh Goldbloom, who had traveled from Chicago to speak on behalf of their late son, whom they called Mendel. Oldham himself addressed the court with his apologies and regret for his decision. He pleaded guilty to two counts of Gross Vehicular Manslaughter while Intoxicated, and one count of Driving Under the Influence with a Blood Alcohol Content of Over 0.08 Percent Causing Bodily Injury, with five enhancements related to bodily injury.
Gregory Wayne Oldham was sentenced to 20 years in California State Prison, with credit for 2,415 days served.
