SAGINAW, MI -- Jose R. Teneyuque Sr.'s wife and son stood before a judge Tuesday, March 10, and pleaded for leniency.

Tasked with weighing those pleas against public safety concerns, Saginaw County Circuit Judge Janet M. Boes handed down a stiff sentence to Teneyuque, the man whose June drunken-driving crash killed his 19-year-old daughter.

During a highly emotional, approximately 90-minute sentencing, Boes exceeded Teneyuque's state sentencing guidelines and ordered the 41-year-old to serve 15-to-30 years in prison for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death late June 28, 2014, on Gratiot west of Center in Saginaw Township.

The judge did so after hearing Teneyuque's wife, Gina Teneyuque, and teenage son, Alfredo Teneyuque, deliver tearful victim-impact statements and ask Boes to hand down a minimum sentence of closer to four years.

"I understand the defendant's family is suffering, and that's sad and unfortunate, but it's because of the defendant," Boes said.

With the sentence, Teneyuque isn't eligible for parole until he is 55. He accepted a plea agreement after facing a second-degree murder charge, which the county prosecutor's office dropped in the agreement.

Teneyuque fought back tears as his wife and son spoke, as well as when his attorney, Alan Crawford, delivered an impassioned argument for a minimum sentence of four years and two months. Such a sentence would have been at the bottom of Teneyuque's sentencing guidelines.

When judges exceed sentencing guidelines, they are required by Michigan law to state "substantial and compelling reasons" for doing so. Crawford classified the crash as an accident and said that "does not give rise" to such required reasons.

Following his family members and the arguments from the attorneys, Teneyuque addressed Boes and also said the crash, which occurred as he and his family were returning home from Shields Fest, was an accident that happened only after another vehicle cut him off.

"I was just trying to get home," he said.

Linda Teneyuque

He said that as he was driving his Chevrolet Suburban, his daughter, who was seated in the middle row of the SUV, said, "Dad, watch that car." Once he was able to figure out what she was talking about, Teneyuque saw a vehicle cut in front of him and apply its brakes, he said. He turned to the right to avoid it and tried to stay on the road but could not, he said.

"That's the honest-to-God truth," he said.

Alfredo, who mostly was unharmed in the crash, also recalled the crash. He said he remembers the entire incident, including his sister "flying" around the Suburban and ultimately landing in his lap in the front seat, "dying in my arms."

The teen told Boes he wanted his dad to see him graduate high school and that playing baseball was not the same without his dad watching him taking swings.

"Take it easy on my dad," he said. "I just want him to be home."

He then turned to his father, who was standing in the jury box as his wife and son spoke.

"I never got to tell you this, but thank you for giving me life," he said.

Gina Teneyuque makes an emotional statement during the sentencing for her husband Jose R. Teneyuque Sr. by Saginaw County Circuit Judge Janet M. Boes on March 10, 2015.

Gina Teneyuque said the county prosecutor's office "made our tragedy a circus for publicity." She wept through most of her statement as she pleaded with Boes to "show compassion."

"As I stand here before you, your honor, as a woman to another woman, a mother and a wife, I am the voice of Linda, Jose, and our family," she said. "We lost our daughter, I'm losing my husband. ... Please, I fall to the mercy of the court. Please don't give my husband a lot of time."

Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Duggan disagreed with Gina Teneyuque's classification of the agenda of the prosecutor's office and said the office has "extreme sympathy" for the family. The prosecution, though, has an obligation to do more than seek justice for Linda, he said.

"This isn't a private duty, it's a public duty," he said.

Duggan said he also was speaking on behalf of Linda, an adult who was "at the mercy of her father." He said that Linda getting her in her father's vehicle ultimately was a "death trap" that she could not escape.

The prosecutor noted the statements and testimony from Ryan Balash, who also was driving on Gratiot that night and said he almost was struck by Teneyuque as Teneyuque veered back and forth at about 60 mph. He also pointed to Alfredo's testimony from his father's preliminary hearing, when the teen said his father knew that when his children and others sat in the middle or back rows, they did not wear their seat belts.

In exceeding the sentencing guidelines, Boes said her reasons were "objective and verifiable."

Saginaw County Circuit Judge Janet M. Boes makes a point during the sentencing for Jose R. Teneyuque Sr. on March 10, 2015.

She first noted Teneyuque's high blood-alcohol content. A Covenant HealthCare test of his blood taken about an hour after the crash showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.30, or nearly four times the legal limit, while results of tests conducted by the Michigan State Police on the samples obtained three hours later via warrant showed Teneyuque's BAC was 0.20, or more than two times the legal limit.

She also noted Teneyuque's multiple inconsistent, false statements he gave to police immediately after the crash and in the hours afterward. Crawford said Teneyuque was "out of it," and Gina Teneyuque said she told police that her husband actually thought he had just experienced a crash that occurred 10 years ago.

Finally, Boes said Teneyuque has shown an inability to conform to the rules and laws of society. She pointed out Teneyuque violated his probation, which he was on for committing a felony assault, by committing a felony offense of carrying a concealed weapon in the mid-1990s, committed a misdemeanor offense of operating while impaired in the late-2000s, and violated his bond conditions in this case as they related to alcohol monitoring.

As sheriff's deputies escorted Teneyuque out of the courtroom, his wife and other family members again began weeping, louder than they had while Boes was conducting the hearing. Teneyuque looked toward his family and said, "I love you," and multiple family members responded with the same.

His last words before he exited the courtroom were, "These courts ain't right."

Duggan and Chief Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Boyd have maintained that their office took the Teneyuque family's wishes into consideration when it re-offered a plea deal that Teneyuque rejected in December.

At the time, Duggan said that if Crawford pursued several motions, including one to dismiss the murder charge, and the prosecutor's office had to litigate those motions, the office would withdraw the offer. Crawford went ahead with the motions and lost, and Teneyuque was to go to trial Jan. 27. He accepted a modified offer on Jan. 23, but the important portion remained, as the murder charge was dropped.

In addition to the OWI charge, Teneyuque pleaded to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated with an occupant under the age of 16-second offense and a misdemeanor count of operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 or greater -- Michigan's "Super Drunk" law.

He received credit for 89 days, or three months.

-- Andy Hoag covers courts for MLive/The Saginaw News. Email him at ahoag@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter @awhoag