A Valley Stream man was sentenced on Thursday, April 2, to 3 1/2 to 8 1/4 years in prison for a 2022 drunk-driving crash on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway that killed his 23-year-old half-brother, according to the office of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Joshua Pena pleaded guilty on Jan. 30 to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of driving while intoxicated, second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, the DA’s office said.
Donnelly said that on June 19, 2022, an off-duty East Meadow Fire Department official was driving southbound on the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway when he saw a white 2018 Mercedes on top of the guardrail, leaning against a tree.
Donnelly said he approached the vehicle and saw 23-year-old Xavier Pena, conscious and pinned inside the vehicle. He was later pronounced dead at the Nassau University Medical Center, according to the district attorney.
It was determined that Joshua Pena had a blood alcohol content of .17 approximately 45 minutes after the crash and that he had been driving roughly 127 miles per hour shortly before the crash, Donnelly said.
