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Dumont Driver Gets 5 Years In MetLife Death Of Cliffside Park Record King

A former employee of an Englewood luxury sports car company whose car struck and killed popular Cliffside Park record store owner Steve Lenge as he rode his motorcycle outside MetLife Stadium on Mother’s Day 2012 was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday.

Steve Lenge

Steve Lenge

Photo Credit: COURTESY: Lenge Family
Lenge photo: Courtesy of family / MUGHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

Lenge photo: Courtesy of family / MUGHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

Photo Credit: CLIFFVIEW PILOT

Joseph A. Ferretti, 34, of Dumont must serve four years and three months of his sentence before being eligible for parole, under the sentenced handed down by Presiding Superior Court Judge Margaret Foti in Hackensack.

Ferretti and Joseph Meyer of Oviedo, Fla., originally were charged with death by auto, a second-degree crime that has sent those convicted in New Jersey to prison for terms of five to 10 years, for the drag race that ended with Lenge dead.

A grand jury later upgraded the charges to aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide. 

Meyer negotiated a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty last year to death by auto and agreeing to testify Ferretti in exchange for 364 days in the Bergen County Jail and five years probation. 

Both men worked for Gotham Dream Cars and had just fueled their 2006 Ferreris -- worth nearly $150,000 each -- for a "Dream Car Sprint" around the stadium the morning of May 13, 2012.

Lenge, a 56-year-old father of two and North Bergen native who made Things From England one of the world’s most popular independent record stores, was wearing a helmet as he rode his 2011 Triumph to a second job at the sports complex, where he helped build the set for the Electric Daisy Festival.

Meyer, who authorities said at one point his 100 miles an hour, lost control coming around a turn and bounced off two curbs.

Ferretti, who broke 90 mph, swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid Meyer and smashed Lenge’s bike, sending it nearly 100 yards, they said.

Jurors convicted Ferretti in March following a three-week trial that included various New Jersey State Police troopers and car experts testifying and both photos and video of the crash.

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