Ramesh Hulugalle, 44, son of a prominent Las Vegas Physicians, has been sentenced in connection with a fatal driving-under-the-influence case that resulted in the death. According to the court’s sentencing order, Hulugalle received a prison term of a minimum of 54 months and a maximum of 135 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections. The court also awarded Hulugalle 1,326 days of credit for time served at various institutions prior to sentencing.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court-imposed conditions related to Hulugalle ‘s future driving privileges. Before any driving privileges may be reinstated, Hulugalle must install an ignition interlock device in any vehicle he operates. The device must remain installed and be subject to inspection for a minimum period of 12 months.

In October, 2022 Ramesh Hulugalle was arrested and charged with driving under the influence resulting in death, and failure to obey a traffic control device. The same year in December, Hulugalle due to his mental health issues was referred to competency court. 

After being evaluated by multiple mental health experts, Hulugalle was determined to be incompetent to proceed. Hulugalle was diagnosed with delusional disorder, somatic type, and major depressive disorder. He was further diagnosed with Olfactory Reference Syndrome.  In September of 2021, Hulugalle was diagnosed by Seven Hills Hospital with schizophrenia, paranoid type. 

In June 2023, a separate team of experts at Stein, Nevada’s forensic mental health facility, concluded that he had attained competency and referred him back to the competency court for further proceedings. The court accepted the experts’ findings; however, the defense challenged the competency determination and requested a competency hearing.

According to court documents, testimony presented during the competency proceedings revealed that in June 2025, Hulugalle told an evaluator that he knew he was likely to be found competent. The evaluator testified that Hulugalle stated he did not want to go to prison and preferred to serve any potential sentence at Stein rather than in a correctional facility. The testimony further indicated that he was closely monitoring the amount of credit he was receiving for time served while committed to Stein.

Following additional evaluations, Stein conducted new competency assessments in October 2025. The evaluators again concluded that Hulugalle was competent to proceed, reaffirming the earlier findings regarding his competency status. According to court filings, the court agreed that Hulugalle has a mental illness and that he is choosing not to participate in treatment as a way to avoid the consequences of the alleged criminal act. Defense argued that there is a long history of mental illness that contributed to offense conduct in this case. On February 2^nd, 2026 Hulugalle’s challenge to competency was denied.

Upon return from the last commitment, and given the finding of competence, Mr. Hulugalle was able to accept responsibility and enter the guilty plea. Court noted that Hulugalle’s ability or inability to aid and assist is not rooted in a mental illness, rather it is the result of a volitional act of refusing to accept his medications, which render him competent to stand trial.