An illegal immigrant who killed a University of South Carolina student in a horrific hit-and-run crash was quietly handed a slap-on-the-wrist sentence this summer — despite the tragedy sparking national outrage.
Rosali Fernandez-Cruz, 24, has been serving out his one-year stint at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia since August, when three of his charges were discreetly dropped and he pleaded guilty to the remaining most serious count for killing 21-year-old Nathaniel Baker, according to jail records and reports.
“The judge decided the sentence, which was one year,” a spokesperson for Republican South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson told Fox News, adding that Baker’s forgiving family was consulted before the lenient sentence was given and wanted to keep the agreement hush-hush.
“They did not want this to be politicized or highly publicized. They were in agreement with the guilty plea and sentence.”
Fernandez-Cruz, a native of El Salvador who has been on the run from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2018, was also credited with 131 days served — despite fatal hit-and-runs carrying up to a 25-year maximum sentence in the Palmetto State, The State reported.
He is expected to walk free on March 2, 2026, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Wilson’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Fernandez-Cruz was nabbed shortly after failing to yield and striking Baker, a USC junior and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity member, who was riding his motorcycle near the college’s Columbia campus.
The careless motorist, who was allegedly driving without a license, fled the scene and later abandoned his pickup truck before being captured by a nearby cop — who then notified ICE of the arrest after his name was found in the National Crime Information Center database, police said at the time.
Fernandez-Cruz illegally crossed the US-Mexico border on an unknown date and was later arrested by Border Patrol in Texas in 2016, a Department of Homeland Security source told The Post in April.
Two years later, a North Carolina immigration judge ordered that he be sent back to his home country.
The migrant was charged with hit-and-run resulting in death, failure to give information and render aid, failure to yield the right of way, and driving without a license.
He only pleaded guilty to hit-and-run resulting in death — with the other charges reportedly dismissed.
It’s unclear whether he will be deported back to El Salvador once his jail term is complete.
DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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