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Denisse Ortega, 36, of New Milford, pleaded guilty in Sept. 2021 to first-degree death by auto - DWI while within 1,000 feet of school property and to motor vehicle summonses for driving while intoxicated and speeding, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.
Ortega, 36, was behind the wheel of a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder driving north on JFK Boulevard in North Bergen when she crashed into a 2012 Nissan Altima driven by Mario Santamaria Sr., who was heading west on 76th Street on Sept. 29, 2019, around 4 a.m., Suarez said.
Santamaria, of North Bergen, was pronounced dead at Jersey City Medical Center around 5:15 a.m.
Ortega was traveling 83 mph in a 25 mph zone and failed to obey several other traffic laws at the time of the crash, which occurred within 1,000 feet of North Bergen High School, police said.
Her sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act, a 10-year driver’s license suspension, and forfeiture of the Pathfinder, which was previously seized pursuant to a search warrant, Suarez said.
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