Judge nixes no-prison deal in 2018 NY limo crash that killed 20
SCHOHARIE, N.Y. — A judge rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limousine company involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York. Wednesday’s turnabout drew applause and tears from victims’ relatives and plunged limo company boss Nauman Hussain into legal uncertainty.
State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch, who was not presiding over the case when the deal was reached a year ago in Mr. Hussain’s case, called the agreement “fundamentally flawed.”
It would have spared Mr. Hussain prison time, angering the families of the people killed when brake failure sent a stretch limo full of birthday revelers hurtling down a hill in 2018.
The judge’s rejection caught lawyers and relatives off-guard. Family members who, moments earlier, were testifying about their grief and anger over no one being accountable for the deadly crash clapped and dabbed their eyes after the judge’s announcement.
“I can’t even put into words how I feel. Totally unexpected. Thank God,” said Jill Richardson-Perez, the mother of limo crash victim Matthew Coons, while leaving court. “I’m in a better place now.”
Defense attorney Chad Seigel said they were “shocked” and that the judge’s move was “unheard of.”
Mr. Hussain, who operated Prestige Limousine, had been charged with 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in what was the deadliest U.S. transportation disaster in a decade.
The agreement had called for Mr. Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts, resulting in five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. Lawyers for both sides said last year the plea agreement assured a resolution in a case that would have faced an uncertain outcome if presented to a jury.
Justice Lynch noted that a state Department of Transportation out- of- service sticker had been placed on the limousine a month before the crash. State police recovered the sticker from Mr. Hussain’s personal car after his arrest. Prosecutors have argued that Mr. Hussain took the sticker off the limo’s windshield so that he could use it for more jobs.
To the judge, Mr. Hussain’s actions showed he knew the risk of putting the limousine on the road the day of the crash, and a guilty plea to only criminally negligent homicide does not reflect that. Second-degree manslaughter charges are filed when a defendant is accused of being aware of the risk of death and disregarding it. Justice Lynch called the deal “completely disingenuous and unacceptable to this court.”
Justice Lynch gave Mr. Hussain’s lawyers the choice of accepting a sentence of 1⅓ to four years in prison or withdrawing his guilty plea. They chose the latter.