Assemblyman Lalor and Abigail Wonderly stand by a poster with photos
of
Abigail’s parents, who were killed by a driver eluding police
POUGHKEEPSIE – On the six year anniversary of the deaths of Shawn
and Patricia Wonderly at the hands of Ryan Floryan, State Senator Sue
Serino and Assemblyman Kieran Lalor joined with members of law enforcement
and relatives of the deceased to call for stricter sentencing guidelines
for criminals that recklessly kill people.
On August 1, 2012 Mr. and Mrs. Wonderly were killed when their family
car was struck by a vehicle operated by Ryan Floryan as he attempted to
elude Poughkeepsie City Police that were attempting to arrest him on an
outstanding warrant. The crash killed both and made their two young children
instant orphans.
Floryan pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter and
was sentenced to 6 1/2 to 13 years in prison by then Judge Steve Greller.
At sentencing Greller told the defendant that he was angry that the guidelines
allowed for such a brief sentence as compared to his actions.
New York State only allows for the sentences to be served concurrently,
or at the same time rather than one after the other which would punish
the criminal for each life that he took.
Both Serino and Lalor credit the recently deceased Assemblyman Frank Skartados
for spearheading the drive to change the law after learning of the Floryan
sentence.
Serino said that the legislation has passed the Senate each year with
bipartisan support but the Assembly has not.
Lalor said that, despite the efforts of Skartados, Assemblywoman Didi
Barrett and himself, the majority members of the codes committee won’t
bring it to a vote.
Lalor said that leadership told him that consecutive sentences would raise
double jeopardy issues. Lalor refutes that citing a State Court of Appeals
ruling from 1984 that says the legislature can, in fact, change the law.
Lalor claims that the Democratic Assembly majority party is soft on crime,
especially as you get closer to New York City.
Lalor denounced what he called the excessively light punishment received
by Floryan, noting that the proposed law wouldn’t affect Floryan directly.
He also expressed his anger that the convicted criminal is scheduled for
a parole hearing in September and could be out of prison as early as January
of next year.
