Prison for fatal DWI crash
A Yonkers man was sentenced to prison Monday for killing the passenger in his car when, driving while intoxicated last year, he slammed into a tractor-trailer in Manhattan and caused a multicar pileup.
Antonios Sikolas, 26, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for five to 15 years behind bars for causing the deadly collision at 34th St. and Third Ave. on July 19, 2017, at about 2:30 a.m.
His sentence was handed down in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday.
Sikolas had a suspended license when he got behind the wheel of his Honda Civic with 37-year-old Columbia University graduate student Ryota Funakoshi in the passenger seat beside him.
He was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.14, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08. He was driving 71 mph and barreled through 11 red lights before he collided with the massive truck, prosecutors said.
Funakoshi, of Japan, sustained serious head injuries and did not survive after being rushed to the hospital.
The truck driver and a taxicab driver were also injured in the crash.
Sikolas was indicted for murder and related counts as a result of the tragedy.
He pleaded guilty last month to the lesser homicide charge. He declined to speak when offered the chance Monday.