A Worthington, MN, man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for causing a 2025 crash that killed a Nemaha woman on Iowa Highway 3.
Twenty‑nine‑year‑old Jorge Ortega‑Ortega, formerly of Cherokee, was sentenced yesterday in Buena Vista County District Court. A jury found him guilty of homicide by vehicle in March, following a three‑day trial in Storm Lake.
The conviction stems from a head-on collision on March 19, 2025, during a blizzard that brought near‑whiteout conditions to northern Buena Vista County. Investigators say Ortega‑Ortega was driving westbound in a Honda Civic around 6:25 a.m. when he activated his left turn signal, crossed into the eastbound lane, and continued driving in the wrong lane for roughly a mile.
According to court testimony, an in‑car camera captured him passing a no‑passing sign, drifting across both the center and fog lines, and remaining in oncoming traffic before striking the vehicle driven by 65‑year‑old Rose Bumsted of Nemaha near the intersection of Highway 3 and County Road M27.
Bumsted was taken to Buena Vista Regional Medical Center, where she died from her injuries. Ortega‑Ortega was hospitalized in Sioux Falls, SD.
Ortega‑Ortega initially pleaded not guilty in June 2025.
Yesterday, District Judge Charles Borth ordered Ortega‑Ortega to serve 10 years in prison, the maximum penalty for a Class C felony. He must also pay a $1,370 fine, a $205 surcharge, $150,000 in restitution to Bumsted’s estate and $17,101.50 to the Iowa Crime Victim Assistance Program. He was denied probation but will receive credit for time already served.
