A Long Beach man was sentenced to up to 22 years in prison on Wednesday, Sept. 10, for vehicular manslaughter and other charges after driving drunk into oncoming traffic on Stewart Avenue in Garden City, crashing into a tree and killing a passenger inside his vehicle, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
Christhian Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty in June to first-degree vehicular manslaughter, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, false personation and circumvention of an interlock device.
Valesquez Gelanot is expected to be sentenced to the maximum allowable sentence of 9 5/6 to 22 years in prison when he is due back in court on July 30, Donnelly said.
Donnelly said that on Feb. 9, Velasquez Galeano was intoxicated and driving a Nissan Maxima eastbound on Stewart Avenue in Garden City with two passengers in the car. He then drove his car into oncoming traffic and crashed into a tree on the westbound shoulder of the road, causing significant damage to the rear driver’s side of the vehicle.
Marco Zuniga, 27, was slumped over in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle and unresponsive, Donnelly said. Zuniga was taken to NYU Langone Long Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger, who was unnamed by the district attorney, exited the car after the crash and fled on foot north on Nassau Boulevard, the DA said.
Garden City Police Department officers tracked two sets of footprints in the snow until they stopped in front of 118 Nassau Blvd. and found Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger hiding in the bushes, Donnelly said.
Velasquez Galeano had blood on his hands and exhibited signs of intoxication, according to the district attorney.
Both Valasquez Geleano and the front-seat passenger were taken to the hospital as well.
