A Navy man who previously pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the death of a Point Loma woman has been permitted by a judge to withdraw his guilty plea because of a mistake.

However, this means that Eric Deangelo Ramos Cortez, 26, is now once again charged with second-degree murder as well as manslaughter in the death of Sarah Lombardi, 54, on Interstate 8, on Dec. 20, 2021.

A second-degree murder charge was dismissed when he pleaded guilty, but now with his plea agreement set aside, a trial date was set for Feb. 24, 2024.

A not-guilty plea was reinstated for Ramos before San Diego Superior Court Judge Rachel Cano and he remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.

He recently married his 25-year-old girlfriend while in jail, according to court documents. She has attended most of his court hearings.

His attorney, Onell Soto, wrote that he advised Ramos that his guilty plea was to a serious felony, rather than to a violent strike felony and that he would not face reduced conduct credits. Soto produced a crossed-out sentence on the plea form about reduced conduct credits that should not have been there which Ramos signed.

Soto wrote that he, the prosecutor, and the judge did not see that crossed-out sentence on the plea form. There is an X marked over it. “Mr. Ramos did not know he was admitting to a violent felony,” he added.

“Nobody during the colloquy corrected the record to show this would be a violent felony with significantly reduced custody credits,” wrote Soto.

“With a young wife and hopes of starting a family, he would not have entered the plea had he known its impact on the actual time served,” wrote Soto in court papers.

The maximum sentence for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated was 11 years and 8 months, while he could receive 15 years to life or longer in prison for second-degree murder.

Deputy District Attorney Hailey Williams said there was good cause for Ramos to withdraw his guilty pleas and did not object to it. It is usually very difficult to withdraw a guilty plea.

“The record should be clear that defendant’s good cause exists due to his attorney’s ineffective counseling when he failed to provide the correct statement of the law as to the consequences of admitting an allegation pursuant to penal code section 1202.7,” wrote Williams in court documents.

She recommended the judge permit Ramos to “withdraw his guilty plea based upon ineffective assistance of counsel.”

Cano agreed to allow Ramos to start over again.

Lombardi was driving home from work just east of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at 11:30 p.m. when her Toyota Camry was struck by Ramos’ SUV Subaru Outback.

Lombardi had worked at the Kansas City Barbecue, a downtown restaurant for 26 years, according to her obituary, and is survived by her husband and son.

Ramos worked as an electrician in the Navy for two years.