Emily Jashinsky

He is barred from driving for five years.

L.A.

County District Attorney Nathan Hockman releasing a statement, quote, Today's plea and sentence cannot undo the devastation of that day, nor will it bring back the life that was lost.

But it does mark a step toward justice and a measure of closure for the victims and their families whose lives have been forever changed.

The sentencing is set for May 8th.

Victims and families will be allowed to address the court.

We spoke with the MK True Crime Show host Phil Holloway, who says this outcome is indefensible.

We asked Holloway whether prosecutors are putting too much weight on the lack of intent here.

Holloway says this result is not typical.

The FBI, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense now jointly investigating a troubling series of cases involving top scientists who have died or gone missing in recent years.

At least 11 of these individuals have died or disappeared since 2022, most of them connected to nuclear research, national laboratories, or advanced space and propulsion work.

Some authorities cautioning the cases are not necessarily linked.

pointing to a range of known circumstances, including suicide or violent crime.

One former energy department official telling CBS, quote, people do just die, strokes, herd disease, suicide, mugging, it happens.

However, several cases have drawn closer scrutiny due to overlapping details involving individuals tied to nuclear or advanced weapons research, many of them based in New Mexico, and in multiple instances, last seen leaving their homes on foot with little more than a handgun.

48-year-old Steven Garcia, a contractor working at a facility producing components for nuclear weapons, vanishing in August of last year after leaving his Albuquerque home on foot.

Anthony Chavez and Melissa Casillas both connected to Los Alamos National Laboratory, a nuclear research facility, also disappearing last year under similar circumstances, each last seen walking away from their homes.

And earlier this year, retired Air Force Major General William Neal McCaslin, a former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory, disappearing from his Albuquerque home, reportedly also leaving with only a handgun.

These cases and more are drawing increasing public concern over the last several months, with President Trump weighing in last week.

Hopefully, I don't know, coincidence, whatever you want to call it, but some of them were very important people, and we're going to look at it over the next... The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration confirming to CBS News it is aware of the reports and is reviewing cases involving personnel across its labs and facilities.