The Bucharest Court of Appeal sentenced Mario Iorgulescu on Wednesday to eight years and eight months in prison for manslaughter and driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and drugs, in connection with the car accident he caused in 2019, resulting in the death of a man.
According to the court’s decision, the son of the president of the Professional Football League received seven years for manslaughter and two years in prison for driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or other substances.
These sentences were merged with a 3-year sentence imposed in another case for complicity in illegal deprivation of liberty, resulting in a total of 8 years and 8 months in prison. The decision is final.
The case is currently in the retrial phase. Initially, Mario Iorgulescu received a sentence of 15 years and 8 months at the first instance court (Bucharest Tribunal) in February 2023, which was reduced in October 2023 by the Bucharest Court of Appeal to 13 years and 8 months in prison.
In June 2024, a panel from the Supreme Court overturned the sentence following the acceptance of an appeal in cassation (an extraordinary legal remedy), and the case was sent for retrial at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. The reason for the retrial was that Mario Iorgulescu should not have been tried for murder, but for manslaughter, an offense with lower sentencing limits.
On the evening of September 8, 2019, Mario Iorgulescu was attending a party hosted by a friend's family in the village of Gulia, Tărtăşeşti commune, where he consumed alcohol. At some point, he learned that his ex-girlfriend, from whom he had just separated, was at a club in Herăstrău Park. Witnesses recount that he argued continuously on the phone with his ex-girlfriend, was nervous and shouting, but he promised the host that he would not drive in his current state.
At the end of the party, around 2:50 a.m., fueled by jealousy and in a state of rage, with a blood alcohol level of 1.96 g/l and under the influence of cocaine, he got into his car, an Aston Martin DBS model, and drove towards the capital.
He entered Bucharest through Chitila, driving at speeds between 140 km/h and 164 km/h (moments captured by surveillance cameras along the route). At the intersection between Chitilei Road and Teodor Neagoe Street, he ran a red light at 145 km/h, then accelerated to 162 km/h as he passed another vehicle traveling at a slow speed in the first lane. Subsequently, he drove onto a traffic island, pressing the accelerator pedal to the maximum, entered the opposite lane, where he collided head-on at a speed of 143 km/h with a car driven by a man who died on the spot.
A few days after the accident, Mario Iorgulescu was transferred by his family to Italy on a private plane and admitted to a clinic. He was not questioned by prosecutors or judges during the criminal investigation or court proceedings.