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Amandeep Singh, of Roslyn, expected to plead guilty to wrong-way DWI crash that killed 2 teens in Jericho in 2023, sources say

Amandeep Singh, of Roslyn, expected to plead guilty to wrong-way DWI crash that killed 2 teens in Jericho in 2023, sources say

A Roslyn man accused of killing two teenage tennis stars in a wrong-way drug and alcohol crash in 2023 is expected to plead guilty to aggravated vehicular manslaughter and other charges Friday in Nassau County Court. sources said.

Amandeep Singh, 36, a construction executive who prosecutors say had been drinking heavily and using cocaine the night of the crash, agreed last week to change his plea to guilty on the main charge in exchange for an 8⅓ sentence. to 25 years in prison. sources said.

The agreement would end nearly two years of legal wrangling by Singh and his attorneys and allow him to avoid an additional seven years behind bars for fleeing the scene of the crash that killed Roslyn high school students Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz. , both 14 years old.

“Is it fair?” Mitch Hassenbein, Drew’s father, said Tuesday about the possibility of reducing the prison sentence. “It will never be fair.”

“My son was an amazing kid. He gave my son a permanent sentence. He gave all of us, and his family, a life sentence,” Hassenbein said.

Nassau prosecutors said Singh spent the night of May 3, 2023, drinking Scotch and tequila and snorting cocaine at three bars before getting behind the wheel of his red 2021 Dodge Ram TRX pickup truck. He reportedly reached speeds of more than 90 mph southbound in the northbound lanes of North Broadway in Jericho before colliding with a 2019 four-door Alfa Romeo carrying Drew and Ethan.

The impact overturned the truck and caused it to skid sideways across the road. Investigators said they found a bottle of Casamigos tequila under the seat.

Singh fled the scene, police said.

Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz.

Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz. Credit: Peter Frutkoff; Camp Tyler Hill / Andy Siegel

Nassau police officers patrolling the area found Singh several hundred meters away, hiding in the loading dock of a nearby shopping center, next to a dumpster.

body camera footage Footage obtained exclusively by Newsday showed him disoriented, slurring his words and lying to officers about his involvement in the crash.

He initially said the injury from the crash came from an unidentified assailant, the recording shows.

Police arrested Singh after a witness identified him as the hit-and-run driver. Singh continued to speak with investigators even after he was informed of his right to remain silent.

“So what if I (expletive) drink and drive… maybe I did,” he said in the video.

Singh also questioned whether the driver of the children’s car was drunk.

In the recording, Singh began to deal with the ramifications of the accident.

“Yeah, my life’s over, man,” he said in the video. “Bro, all the hard work I did. Whatever I was doing my whole life, right? I’m 35 years old, man. I worked really hard in my life. I worked really hard in my life for my kids, for myself. Do you know?” does (expletive) in a second?

Over the next two years, Singh fought the charges and even rejected a plea deal similar to the one he is expected to accept on Friday.

“He is evaluating all of his options,” his attorney Edward Sapone told Newsday at the time.

Sapone and his co-counsel James Kousouros managed to block a segment of the body camera footage from the court, but state Supreme Court Justice Helene Gugerty ruled in October that most of it would be admissible in the trial, which is scheduled to begin. scheduled for February.

Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment on a possible plea deal. Sapone also said he would not comment.

He death of the two boys sent shockwaves through Roslyn and through junior tennis leagues in New York and beyond.

Both high school students played on the Roslyn High School varsity tennis team.

Drew was ranked number one in the country among kids 12 and under at the time. Ethan made the middle school team as a starter in his eighth grade.

Nassau County Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commander of the Nassau County Police Department’s homicide squad, called it “one of the most catastrophic scenes I’ve seen in a long time.”

Gary Falkowitz, Ethan’s father, pressured Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign the Bereaved Families Act, a change that would allow surviving families to seek damages in wrongful death cases. She vetoed the bill after strong opposition from doctors, hospitals and insurance companies who said it would increase liability insurance premiums and costs for consumers. The governor said more negotiations were needed before signing the measure.

Hassenbein praised Nassau County Prosecutor Michael Bushwack, head of the district attorney’s vehicular crimes bureau, but criticized state law that he said prevented Singh from receiving a harsher punishment.

“The maximum penalties have to be significantly higher. When you’re that drunk and that high, your car is a weapon,” Hassenbein said. “This was not an accident.”

He said that during the two-year ordeal, Singh’s family never came forward to offer their condolences.

“No regrets. No, nothing. Zero,” he said. “After exhausting all options, he pleads guilty…Hopefully, wherever he ends up, he will find some accountability.”