A Brighton Municipal Court judge today sentenced Nikolas Papadopoulos, 20, to a one-year sentence in a county jail for a Sept. 6, 2013 crash that paralyzed one of his passengers and the driver of the pickup he smashed into head on.
The judge actually sentenced Papadopoulos to two years in jail, but suspended half the sentence on the provision he stay out of trouble for five years. Suffolk County prosecutors had asked for jail time of at least 18 months.
A Suffolk Superior Court jury last week convicted Papadopoulos of negligent operation - a misdemeanor - agreeing with prosecutors that Papadopoulos was responsible for the crash because he was going way to fast for the Arborway when his car crossed the median barrier, flipped over and went head first into a pickup driven by Kevin Cellucci. One of Papadopoulos's passengers, Mark Delamere, then just 14, suffered permanent spine injuries when he was ejected from the car.
In a joint victims' statement, the families of the two most seriously injured people thanked Boston Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office - and blasted Papadopoulos:
His reckless actions have forever changed our lives. The fact that he showed little remorse after the accident, sought to portray himself as a victim and then tried to cast aspersons on the Boston Police Department and the District Attorney's office was reprehensible. Mor. Papadopoulos will most likely not have to serve the time he was given, and he will them move on with his life as he has done since the accident. His life will only be briefly interrupted. The interruption in our families' lives will not end.
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Comments
He was driving at 50 mph
By my two cents
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 7:26pm
He was driving at 50 mph which is 20 mph over the speed limit. Have you never driven faster than the speed limit?
difference
By Saul
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 8:59pm
50mph when the speed limit is 30mph, on a curvy, narrow-laned road, is a hell of a lot different than going 85mph in a 65mph stretch of open highway.
Do you fail to see the difference?
50 mph on the arborway
By lbb
Thu, 02/04/2016 - 9:32am
50 mph on the arborway is, I'd say, worse than 80 mph on Comm Ave.
80mph on Comm. Ave. will kill
By anon
Thu, 02/04/2016 - 10:22am
80mph on Comm. Ave. will kill people -- Comm. Ave. is shared by cyclists and there are people crossing the Comm. Ave. on foot as well.
20 over per Globe
By alkali
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 10:03pm
I was going by the Globe report on the trial. If this driver were really driving 80 mph on the Arborway, that's an extreme level of recklessness and there's no way you could build an urban road to mitigate that.
Now thats justice
By kitty
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 5:37pm
2 people paralyzed for life and the wreckless driver gets 1 year in jail. Now that's justice!
Actually, the guy's going to
By Lynne
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 6:46pm
Actually, the guy's going to jail because he wasn't "wreckless." Badum-tish.
(Personally, I can't wait until we actually do something about our street designs and legal system prioritizing getting drivers quickly to their destination over the safety of all people, in cars or not, trying to get somewhere. These wheels of justice feel pretty damned Sisyphean at the rate they're turning.)
Lesson learned
By anon
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 7:27pm
You want to seriously hurt or kill someone, do it with a car.
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