A Long Beach man was sentenced on Sept. 9 to up to 22 years in prison for driving drunk, crashing into a tree in Garden City, and killing his passenger, Nassau County prosecutors said.
Christhian Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty in June to vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a crash, and other charges.
Prosecutors said Galeano was intoxicated when he drove into oncoming traffic on Stewart Avenue around 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 9, crashed into a tree, and fled the scene with a passenger.
Marco Zuniga, 27, was found unresponsive in the back seat and later pronounced dead at a hospital.
County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a news release that Galeano is a repeat offender whose actions “devastated a family and stolen a loved one.”
Police said Galeano’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.11 percent four hours after the crash. That figure exceeds what is the legal limit of 8.08 percent that is considered driving while intoxicated in New York state.
