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2005
Media Releases:
CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION
January 7, 2005
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi reported that a judge
today sentenced Frank Nastasi, M/54, of Haddon Heights, to seven years
in New Jersey State Prison in the deaths in May 2002 of three workers
at the McDonald's Restaurant in Mount Ephraim, N.J.
Nastasi pleaded guilty in September to three counts of Vehicular Homicide,
admitting that he was driving recklessly during the early morning
hours of May 15, 2002, when he crashed into the restaurant and killed
three female employees. A plea agreement negotiated by Assistant Prosecutor
James Conley, Section Chief of the Homicide Unit of the Prosecutor's
Office, called for Nastasi to be sentenced to 10 years. The seven-year
term imposed by Superior Court Judge Samuel D. Natal is subject to
the No Early Release Act, meaning the defendant will have to serve
85 percent of the term, or about six years, before he is eligible
for parole.
"We felt strongly that 10 years was the appropriate sentence," Sarubbi
said. "However, we respect Judge Natal's authority to use his discretion
and impose a lesser sentence."
Nastasi admitted that he realized at the time of the crash that he
was operating his Cadillac Sedan DeVille on Prospect Ridge Boulevard
in Mount Ephraim well above the 25 mph speed limit, in a reckless
manner that constituted a "gross deviation" from the way a reasonable
person would drive. He pleaded guilty to three counts of Vehicular
Homicide - one for each of the three victims.
The collision killed Cynthia Molino, 45, of East Kings Highway in
Mount Ephraim; Joanne Bowen, 52, of North Black Horse Pike in Mount
Ephraim; and Nancy King, 49, of Spruce Avenue in Audubon.
A psychological expert hired by the State concurred with a defense
expert's evaluation that Nastasi was suffering a severe mental illness
at the time of the crash.
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