LI Man Sentenced For DWI Crash That Killed 4 Students: Report

NORTH BABYLON, NY — A North Babylon resident and former Maine Maritime Academy student who was driving under the influence when he crashed an SUV in Maine and killed four other students in 2022 pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Friday, according to the AP Press.

Joshua Goncalves-Radding pleaded guilty to charges including manslaughter and aggravated drunken driving, the outlet reported.

He was ordered to serve three years in prison for manslaughter at his sentencing in a Hancock County court, according to the report.

The judge also suspended Goncalves-Radding's license for 10 years, according to News Center Maine.

Goncalves-Radding was 20 years old when the crash occurred. He was driving a 2013 Range Rover around 2 a.m. on December 10 in the small town of Castine, Maine, when the vehicle crashed into a tree and burst into flames, Patch reported in 2023.

According to evidence established at trial, the vehicle was traveling between 106 mph and 111 mph when the crash occurred.

Four passengers who were also students all died, police said. They were identified as Brian Kenealy, 20, of York, Maine; Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner, Maine; Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Massachusetts; and Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, Massachusetts.

The crash happened after the students had gone out following the last day of classes for the semester.

Gonclaves-Radding was indicted by a grand jury in April 2023 after investigators concluded he was speeding and under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, officials said.

He then pleaded not guilty to 17 charges, including four counts of manslaughter, five counts of aggravated OUI, two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, three counts of driving to endanger and one count each of criminal speeding, forgery and unlawful use of a license, Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger told Patch.

At his sentencing, Goncalves-Radding gave an "emotional statement" and apologized to the families of the victims, The AP Press reported.

According to the outlet, Fossett's parents "asked for a lenient sentence and tearfully hugged him during the break."

“No one wanted this to happen,” Laura Fossett said in the report.

“This was a situation where a good person made a horrible decision that cost the lives of four of his best friends,” said Granger, according to the Washington Post. “No sentence the state could recommend or the court could impose can possibly rival the self-imposed sentence defendant recounts every day he wakes up: He faces the realization that he killed his four best friends and injured two others.”