Long Beach Man Pleads Guilty To Charges Stemming From Drunken Crash Into Tree That Killed His Passenger: DA

MINEOLA, NY — A Long Beach man pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and other charges for drunken driving into oncoming traffic in Garden City earlier this year, crashing into tree and killing a passenger in his vehicle, prosecutors said.

Christhian Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to first-degree vehicular manslaughter, along with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, Nassau County D.A. Anne Donnelly said.

Galeano 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, prosecutors said.

On February 9, at approximately 4:47 a.m., Velasquez Galeano was driving a Nissan Maxima while intoxicated and traveling eastbound on Stewart Avenue in Garden City with two passengers when he drove his vehicle 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, Donnelly said.

Galeano and the front seat passenger exited the vehicle after the crash and fled on foot north on Nassau Boulevard, Donnelly said.

Marco Zuniga, 27, was slumped over in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle and unresponsive. He died at an area hospital, prosecutors said.

During the investigation, police found two closed beer bottles in the back seat of the vehicle. A court-ordered blood test revealed that Velasquez Galeano had a .11% blood alcohol concentration four hours after the crash, Donnelly said.

“This defendant put the safety of other motorists at risk as he drunkenly and recklessly veered into oncoming traffic, and like a coward, fled the scene after he crashed, leaving his friend for dead in the backseat of the car,” Donnelly said. “Today’s guilty plea marks the third time in the last decade that Galeano has been convicted of driving while intoxicated, making him a clear recidivist offender with a blatant disregard for the law."

Galeano's attorney Robert Schalk told Patch in a statement:

"Today Mr. Velasquez took full responsibility for the tragic events in February. He did not wish to put his family or the family of the victim through a trial. By accepting this plea he avoided an even harsher sentence at trial.”