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John Cappello, age 31, of Massapequa, was sentenced to seven to 15 years behind bars Friday, Oct. 21, in Nassau County Court.
It followed his April 2022 guilty plea to multiple felony charges that include aggravated vehicular homicide and manslaughter.
Cappello was “highly intoxicated - nearly three times the legal limit” on September 22, 2020, when he drove into oncoming traffic near Stewart and Linden avenues and crashed head-on into another car, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
The driver of the second vehicle, 74-year-old Manuela Brugueras, later died at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Bethpage.
“A devastating scene of twisted metal was left in the wake of this fatal head-on collision that took a woman’s life,” Donnelly said.
The force of the crash was so severe that crews had to extricate Cappello from his vehicle, police said.
Inside his car officers found hypodermic needles and an open pint-sized bottle of vodka.
“John Cappello made a selfish choice to get behind the wheel at nearly three times the legal limit for alcohol. It was a choice that cost an innocent Manuela Brugueras her life,” Donnelly said.
“We hope that today’s prison sentence gives some closure to Manuela’s family. Our thoughts remain with them.”
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