Steve Vaccaro represents the family of Jeffrey Williamson, a cyclist killed on the Upper West Side in 2021 by a postal truck driver whose prosecution under the Right of Way Law finally concluded in 2023, after a full bench trial and conviction, with sentencing included a six-month license suspension, a fine, and mandatory remedial driver’s education.
“A former postal service driver will not go to jail, despite being found guilty last month for the crash that killed an Upper West Side cyclist two years ago, a Manhattan criminal court judge ruled on Tuesday.
Justice Marisol Martinez Alonso spared 63-year-old Sergei Alekseev the 15-day sentence sought by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and instead ordered the USPS worker to pay $1,000 and to take part in a driver accountability program. The sentencing follows Martinez Alonso’s Feb. 23 guilty verdict on the misdemeanor charge of failing to yield and a lesser violation of failing to exercise due care stemming from the June 29, 2021 crash that killed Jeffrey Williamson.
Alekseev’s driver’s license will also be suspended for six months.
“It’s just awful, it’s just terrible,” said his widow, Christopher Brimer, in tears outside the courtroom. “My husband’s life is worth a driving course, a six-month suspension of his license, and a $1,000 fine. A man’s life, [a man] who did nothing wrong.”
Attorney Steve Vaccaro, who is representing Brimer in an upcoming civil case, said that the sentence was a missed opportunity to put some teeth in the state’s Right of Way law, which criminalized negligence behind the wheel.
“From the perspective of Ms. Brimer, it’s hard to understand why there was no incarceration in jail up to 30 days as provided in the law,” he said.
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