NY Teen Sentenced for Causing Fatal Crash That Killed 16-Year-Old Friend in 2021 – NBC New York

What you should know

• An 18-year-old Rockland County man has pleaded guilty to all 17 charges he was charged in connection with a 2021 drunk driving accident that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old classmate and seriously injuring others. three in his vehicle, prosecutors said Wednesday.
• Airmont’s Joseph DeBellis was 17 years old when he was behind the wheel of a 2003 Jaguar sedan that spun out of control, snapping a utility pole in half before flipping onto the side of Route 202 in Montebello last April.
• The impact claimed the life of Jacqueline Zangrilli, who was in the back seat. She was only 16 years old. Zangrilli attended Suffern High School along with the other youths in the car.

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NEW YORK — An 18-year-old Rockland County man has pleaded guilty to all 17 charges he was charged in connection with a 2021 drunk driving accident that culminated in the death of a 16-year-old classmate and seriously injured three others in his vehicle, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Airmont’s Joseph DeBellis was 17 years old when he was behind the wheel of a 2003 Jaguar sedan that spun out of control, snapping a utility pole in half before flipping onto the side of Route 202 in Montebello last April.

The impact claimed the life of Jacqueline Zangrilli, who was in the back seat. She was only 16 years old. Zangrilli attended Suffern High School along with the other youths in the car. Three of them were hospitalized after the accident and are expected to make a full recovery from their injuries.

Prosecutors say DeBellis turned down a plea deal that would have sent him to state prison for up to four years in exchange for a guilty plea to aggravated vehicular manslaughter. Instead, DeBellis pleaded guilty to all 17 counts of the indictment, allowing the court to sentence him to six months in prison followed by five years of probation upon release.

Prosecutors say they opposed the lesser sentence, saying DeBellis was drunk and driving at speeds in excess of 80 mph when he caused the deadly crash. It was unclear where the underage driver got the alcohol from.

“No parent should have to bury their own child,” Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh II said Wednesday in a statement announcing the sentencing. “Drinking while driving is a heinous crime that is easily preventable. We must use tragic events like this as learning lessons for our teens that their actions and decisions have real consequences. My deepest condolences go out to the Suffern community and the families affected by this tragedy.

Friends of the victim who lost his life made the same point almost a year ago.

“It’s devastating, it doesn’t feel real,” Malcolm Sloan, a friend of Zangrilli’s, said at the time of the deadly crash. “We know what we’re supposed to do and what we’re not supposed to do, and it’s devastating to see people go out there and make these mistakes that we learn over and over again are not acceptable.”

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