Man Who Drove While Impaired In Deadly High-Speed Crash Sentenced: DA

EAST QUOGUE, NY —A Wading River man received a sentence Tuesday of eight to 16 years in prison after he drove while impaired by drugs and caused a high-speed crash that took the life of an 82-year-old Queens man, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

George Hackett, 54, was sentenced after pleading guilty in March to aggravated vehicular homicide and other related charges, for his involvement in the June 2023 high-speed crash on Sunrise Highway in East Quogue that caused Franklin Blake's death, Tierney said.

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on

June 8, 2023, at about 3:30 a.m., Hackett was under the influence of a combination of THC, a compound that is the main active ingredient of cannabis, and Xanax while driving a black 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe eastbound on Sunrise Highway in East Quogue, the DA said.

Hackett was driving between Exits 64 and 65 at speeds of up to 113 miles per hour when he struck
the rear end of a 2010 Nissan Armada driven by Blake, Tierney said.

Blake’s car was thrown into the woods, and Blake died as a result of the injuries that he sustained in the crash, the DA said.

Hackett’s vehicle rolled over but landed upright, and he continued driving eastbound on Sunrise Highway until his car broke down less than a mile east of the crash site, Tierney said. Hackett was found more than a mile away from his vehicle, walking on Route 24 in Flanders away from the crash scene, the DA said.

At the time of the crash, Hackett was on parole for first-degree assault, Tierney said. He had three prior driving while intoxicated convictions, once in 1995 and twice in 2016, the DA said.

According to Tierney, on March 28, 2025, Hackett pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski to charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, a Class B felony; second-degree manslaughter, a Class C felony; leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, a Class D felony; second-degree assault, a Class D violent felony; driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs, a Class D felony; two counts of driving while impaired by drugs, a Class D felonies; and reckless driving, an unclassified misdemeanor, the DA said.

On Tuesday, Pilewski sentenced Hackett to eight to 16 years in prison; the DA's office had recommended that the defendant be sentenced 12 ½ to 25 years in prison, the
maximum sentence on the top count of the indictment, Tierney said.

He was represented by Ian Fitzgerald, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

"Today’s sentencing is just, but it can never heal the tragic loss of the Blake family," said Tierney. "The defendant’s reckless decision to drive at excessive speed showed a complete disregard for human life and safety. Our office will continue to vigorously prosecute those who endanger public safety on our roadways."