Oshua Goncalves-Radding sentenced to prison for causing fiery accident that left four people dead – NECN

The driver who caused a serious accident in December 2022 that killed four Maine Maritime Academy students was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter at his sentencing on Friday.

Joshua Goncalves-Radding of North Babylon, New York, pleaded guilty in Hancock County court to 13 counts, including manslaughter and aggravated drunken driving. In addition to his three-year prison sentence, Goncalves-Redding was sentenced to three years of probation and his driver’s license was revoked for 10 years, Boston NBC10 affiliate News Center Maine reports.

He was traveling at speeds between 105 and 110 mph (170 and 178 km/h) before the SUV hit a tree and caught fire, flying nearly 60 feet (18 meters) in the air and traveling nearly the length of a football field, investigators said.

According to authorities, the dead are Brian Kenealy (20) of York, Maine, Chase Fossett (21) of Gardiner, Maine, Luke Simpson (22) of Rockport, Massachusetts, and Riley Ignacio-Cameron (20) of Aquinnah, Massachusetts.

The accident occurred after students left home on the last day of classes of the semester. Police said Goncalves-Radding, who was under 21 at the time of the accident, had alcohol and marijuana in his system, WJAR reports.

Goncalves-Radding showed remorse as he made an emotional statement accepting responsibility and apologizing to the families.

“I wish I had died that day, and I often still feel that way,” Goncalves-Radding said. “I’m allowed to have a life, and I took the lives of my friends.”

The parents of Fossett, who died in the crash, called for a lenient sentence for Goncalves-Radding and hugged him tearfully during the break.

“I had this overwhelming feeling that I needed to live in love and light for Chase. Chase would not have wanted us to hold on to our anger,” said Laura Fossett. “This was a tragedy. He loved everyone in that car and no one wanted this to happen.”

“This was a situation in which a good man made a terrible decision that cost the lives of four of his best friends,” said District Attorney Robert C. Granger. “No sentence the state could recommend or the court could impose can compare to the self-imposed sentence that the defendant tells us about every day when he wakes up: facing the realization that he killed his four best friends and injured two more.”

In addition to Goncalves-Radding, two other students survived. The Land Rover the students were riding in belonged to the father of one of them, Dominick Gecoya of Middleton, Massachusetts. The other survivor was Noelle Tavares, 20, of North Falmouth, Massachusetts.

According to WJAR, the judge said he considered Goncalves-Radding’s age at the time of the incident, the fact that he did not have a bad driving and criminal record, and the fact that he is educated, seeks counseling and takes responsibility when reaching his sentence.

Goncalves-Radding went to prison immediately after his conviction, WJAR reports.