Clifton Park businessman gets 7 years in prison
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. » A local businessman was sentenced Friday to seven years in state prison.
In March, a jury found John Cole guilty of three of four charges lodged against him over a one car crash that left a passenger paralyzed from the neck down.
Prior to Friday’s sentencing, Cole’s attorney, Cheryl Coleman, secured a stay of Judge Murphy’s sentence pending an appeal, anticipated to be filed with the Appellate Division, Third Department of the Supreme Court, a news release said. Cole remains free on bail pending the appeal.
Cole was indicted in October by the Saratoga County District Attorney’s office for being the alcohol- impaired driver of a car that drove east to west on Sittlerly Road in Halfmoon at high speed, failed to make a curve, and hit a tree.
Cole was found guilty of assault in the second degree, a Class D violent felony, driving while ability impaired, a traffic violation, and reckless driving, an unclassified misdemeanor.
The jury found him not guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree. The jury also preferred the lower charge of driving while ability impaired to the charge of driving while intoxicated. Cole’s bloodalcohol content was never mentioned during the case on orders from Saratoga County Court Judge James A. Murphy III.
Cole, 53, of Clifton Park, is the owner of five area Cole’s Collisions auto body repair shops.
After a night out on March 11 last year which included dinner and drinks in at least two area establishments, Cole, his wife Regina, and longtime friends Deanna and Scott Shapiro were involved in a car crash that so injured Deanna Shapiro she is a quadriplegic, a news release said.
Following seven years in a state correctional facility, Cole is scheduled to serve three years of postrelease supervision for his conviction for assault in the Second Degree, a news release said. His driver’s license will also be revoked, the release from Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said.
Three members of the Shapiro family spoke before Judge Murphy imposed sentences Friday. Deanna Shapiro said that Cole “gave me a life sentence confined to this wheelchair, forever dependent on others.”
Zachary Shapiro, Deanna’s 15-year- old son, described how his “...childhood has been ruined because of a stupid and senseless act by John Cole.”
Scott Shapiro, Deanna’s husband, said “John ended my family’s life as we knew it in a matter of seconds ... the comfortable life I spent 28 years building for my family, the future we looked forward to, was all taken away from us in what can only be described as a senseless and unnecessary act.”
Before sentencing Cole, Judge Murphy reviewed the evidence of the case that supported the jury’s guilty verdict, concluding by summarizing how the defendant’s impairment, speeding and reckless conduct were the cause of the crash and the resulting injuries were no one’s fault but Cole’s.
“This case represents how in an instant lives are forever changed when someone chooses to drink alcohol, get behind of the wheel and operate a vehicle in a reckless manner. Assistant District Attorneys Katherine Demartino and Charles Bucca presented a thorough and complete case to the jury, who found the defendant guilty of Assault in the Second Degree, Driving While Ability Impaired by Alcohol and Reckless Driving,” said Heggen. “Judge Murphy’s sentence today holds Mr. Cole responsible for his unlawful conduct, but can never return Deanna Shapiro and her family’s lives to the way they were before this tragic and avoidable crash.”