Cardona
GOSHEN – A New Windsor man, who is serving two consecutive state prison terms on unrelated charges, was convicted by an Orange County Court jury on Wednesday of criminally negligent homicide.
When sentenced in June by Judge Robert Freehill, Gregory Cardona, 28, could face two to four years on this conviction in connection with the death of his passenger, Ashley Martinez, 25, of Monroe.
The two were in his car when he was speeding and lost control, ran off the road and went down an embankment, striking a tree as he was driving on the ramp of Interstate 84, exit 4W in the Town of Wallkill. The crash occurred between the late-night August 29 and early August 30, 2016. The car was discovered by a fireman on his way to work in the morning.
An analysis of his blood alcohol content revealed he was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash.
Cardona is currently serving two consecutive state prison sentences of two to six years each, after being found to have violated probation on two unrelated cases involving grand larceny and forgery charges. The marijuana use in the fatal car crash case was the basis for those violations of probation.
His new sentence could be ordered to run consecutively to those imposed on the probation case for a possible total sentence of six to 16 years in prison.
“No family should have to live with the agony of losing a loved one because someone drove irresponsibly,” said District Attorney David Hoovler.
