By Cynthia Koons
John Mauro, 61, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter last week and was expected to receive a one-year prison sentence when he appears in court July 21, sources at the district attorney's office said.
“Under the circumstances, this was a fair disposition to a difficult case involving a tragedy that devastated two families,” a spokesman from District Attorney Richard Brown's office said.
Mauro was initially charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, reckless endangerment, criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene and driving while intoxicated, according to the district attorney's office.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and admitted he was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred in an appearance before Judge Robert Hanophy in Queens Supreme Court, a spokesman for the DA said.
Mauro faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for running down 76-year-old Martha Russo of Bayside and then fleeing the accident scene.
He entered a guilty plea May 5 to the 2002 accident in which Russo, on her way to pick up a pie from Pizzarama at 37-15 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Auburndale, was struck as she stepped out of her car at about 4:30 p.m. that day.
Police said Russo was hit by a white Cadillac that continued driving away from the scene after her body was propelled over a parked car and skidded underneath another vehicle on the street.
Two drivers trailed Mauro back to his Whitestone home at 157-20 Willets Point Blvd., where police arrested him after cordoning off his street.
Mauro's female companion, Janet Stewart, 60, also was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration and hindering prosecution after the accident. Those charges have since been dismissed. Stewart lived at the same address as Mauro at the time of the accident, police said.
Russo's family members denounced Mauro's shortened sentence at his court appearance last week, according to the Daily News.
Russo's husband, Andrew, could not be reached for comment.
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
