A judge rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limo company involved in an upstate New York crash that killed 20 people in town for a 30th birthday celebration in 2018.
“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. “I’m in a better place now.”
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. While the National Transportation Safety Board was likely caused by Prestige Limousine’s “egregious disregard for safety” that resulted in brake failure, the board said ineffective state oversight contributed.
En route to a brewery, the limo’s brakes failed on a downhill stretch of road in Schoharie, west of Albany. The vehicle blew through a stop sign at over 100 mph and crashed into a small ravine.