NY man gets 1 year in jail for fatal DUI
One killed in 2015 crash; work release allowed for ex-Calvin Klein designer.
A 28-year-old New York man who at the height of his career was responsible for designing the interiors of Calvin Klein retail stores and other outlets worldwide sat in a Palm Beach County courtroom Thursday, crying as he held the jacket and tie he’d just removed as he prepared for his trip to jail.
It had been nearly 28 months since Michael Tomei veered his father’s Hyundai Genesis across a median on Southern Boulevard on an early Thanksgiving morning and plowed into 63-year-old Chan Singh’s Nissan Sentra, killing Singh and seriously injuring his wife, Hansranie. Still, the gravity of his actions, and his impending yearlong jail sentence,
brought fresh tears for Tomei as he pleaded guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge.
Palm Beach County Judge Barry Cohen sentenced Tomei to 12 months in jail as part of a 10-year probation sentence under the terms of a plea agreement between Assistant State Attorney Laura Burkhart Laurie and defense attorney David Roth.
“I do believe in my heart of hearts that he is truly remorseful for his actions,” Laurie told Cohen in explaining the plea, adding that Singh’s wife and daughter were in Orlando and declined to attend the sentencing but expressed that they did not want to see Tomei go to prison.
According to arrest reports, Tomei’s blood alcohol content was at 0.141 percent when authorities drew his blood some two hours after the Nov. 26, 2015, crash. Florida drivers are presumed impaired with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher.
At the time of the 5:10 a.m. crash, the Singhs were stopped at a light on eastbound Southern Boulevard, waiting to turn on to the northbound Interstate 95 ramp.
Tomei had just gotten off the southbound I-95 ramp and either tried to turn right into westbound traffic or left into eastbound traffic, but failed to do either, according to investigators.
Singh was still belted into the driver’s seat of the car when he was pronounced dead. A trooper who arrived at the scene noted that Tomei smelled of alcohol.
In January, Circuit Judge Charles Burton denied Tomei’s request to have the results of his blood draw thrown out of the case. Roth and Miami attorney Robert Reiff had argued in their November request that Florida Highway Patrol troopers wrongly took a blood sample from Tomei after his attorney told him to refuse a blood draw.
Burton noted in his ruling that a trooper’s in-car recording device captured Tomei agreeing, albeit reluctantly, to have his blood drawn, saying he “had no choice.”
Cohen on Thursday agreed to allow Tomei to spend his 12 months in jail on work release. Tomei no longer works for Calvin Klein but said he is now employed with an unnamed flooring company.
Roth asked Cohen if he would consider allowing Tomei to serve the sentence on house arrest, saying Tomei suffers from a number of health issues and has been in intense therapy since the crash.
“He is a very mild-mannered, meek person who would not survive well in jail,” Roth said. “While not comparing his loss to the loss of life in this case, his suffering has gone on immensely.”
Cohen responded by saying that as badly as he felt for Tomei having to go to jail, he thought granting house arrest outright would trivialize the crime.
The judge, however, told Roth he was willing to reconsider the request sometime in May.