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The man charged in the death of a passenger in the van he was driving was drunk and speeding last week when he lost control of the vehicle, which hit a guardrail and a bridge abutment before it rolled and caught fire, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Nemias Garcia-Velasco, 32, has been charged with motor vehicle homicide in the death of Silvano Torres, 58. A judge set his bail at $2 million.

When he asked for a high bail amount, prosecutor Ryan Lindberg of the Douglas County Attorneys Office said Garcia-Velasco, who is from Mexico, was in the United States illegally. After the hearing, Lindberg said Garcia-Velasco had been removed from the U.S. a total of seven times five "voluntary returns" in 2005 and following two deportation hearings, in 2009 and 2011. Lindberg noted that Garcia-Velasco once was convicted of having false citizenship papers.

Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said "it's not unusual" for people who come to the United States illegally to return several times.

Under a voluntary return, Rusnok said, the person is saying, "'Yes, I'm in your country illegally and, yes, you can return me to (my country of origin).'"

The vast majority of voluntary returns are to Mexico, Rusnok said.

Garcia-Velasco was going over 100 mph about 1 p.m. last Wednesday when he lost control of a 2001 Dodge Ram work van as he headed west on Interstate 80 near the Interstate 680 split, Lindberg said. Garcia-Velasco told officers he had consumed 12 beers the previous evening into the morning of the crash, the prosecutor said.

Garcia-Velascos blood-alcohol level was .243 when it was checked at a hospital following the crash, Lindberg said.

Torres was riding unrestrained in the cargo area of the van and was declared dead at the scene. Front-seat passenger Jesus I. Gonzalez, 16, was treated at the hospital and released the day of the crash. Garcia-Velasco was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center with severe burns. He later was released from the hospital and booked into jail.

Rosa Flores, who had been dating Torres for about a year, said she last heard from her boyfriend just before noon last Wednesday.

Torres texted her that it was too hot to continue patching a roof, and that he would call her when he got home.

That afternoon and for two days, she kept calling and messaging him, with no answer. She saw photos of the burning van and had a sinking feeling that it was the work van Torres used.

I was just devastated, she said. There are so many unsolved things, so many questions. I was so hurt, I was so upset.

Flores said she is angry that Garcia-Velasco allegedly was drinking and driving.

If he knew that he was drinking and he knew that he wasnt able to drive, why did he? she said. He didnt stop to think about the consequences of what could happen. Its not fair that he took the life of somebody else.

Torres was a loving man who spoke fondly of his two daughters and son who lived in Mexico, Flores said. Torres had documentation to be in the United States, she said, and had lived in Omaha for about six years after working in other states. She said she does not know Garcia-Velasco.

Funeral services have not been scheduled, Flores said. Relatives are waiting to take his body back to Mexico.

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