19-year-old Salisbury Mills man pleads guilty to vehicular manslaughter

October 20, 2007

Goshen - A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty yesterday in Orange County Court to killing his passenger by driving drunk in Blooming Grove in the spring. Richard C. Lewis of Salisbury Mills pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter, a felony. He admitted that he was intoxicated when he drove into a tree on Clove Road the night of March 24. The impact killed Ryan Binassarie, 22, of Blooming Grove. Lewis’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.11 percent at the time of the crash, according to court papers. The legal limit is 0.08 percent. Prosecutors will ask Judge Jeffrey G. Berry to sentence Lewis to state prison when he returns to court on Dec. 11. Lewis, who is free on bail, could face up to 2¤ to seven years in prison. Oliver Mackson

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