Fugitive Left Friend In Fiery Car, Sentenced 20 Years Later: DA

EAST HAMPTON, NY — A fugitive who pleaded guilty to charges including manslaughter and DWI after leaving his friend to die in a fiery crash in 1999 was sentenced Monday to two to six years in prison, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

The sentencing took place exactly 20 years to the date of the horrific fatal crash, which occurred on Jan. 28, 1999, Sini said.

Wilson Pantosin, 45, of East Hampton, pleaded guilty in December to second degree manslaughter, a felony; two counts of second degree vehicular manslaughter, a felony; and two counts of driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, Sini said.

“Almost 20 years after the defendant killed his friend while driving drunk, justice is finally being served for the victim,” Sini said.

Sini credited the conviction to the work and collaboration by his office, particularly Assistant District Attorney Maggie Bopp, and the Suffolk County Police Department’s fugitive squad, "who made sure this defendant answered for his crimes," he said.

On Jan. 28, 1999, Pantosin, then 25, was driving a 1995 Dodge Neon northbound on Hog Creek Road in East Hampton when he lost control of the vehicle and drove across the oncoming traffic lane and onto the southbound shoulder, Sini said. The vehicle struck a tree, a utility pole and a guy-wire before overturning and catching fire, Sini said. Pantosin was able to exit the vehicle and suffered minor lacerations to his head, Sini said.

East Hampton Town Police officers asked Pantosin if there was a passenger in the vehicle and he responded that there was not, Sini said.

After personnel from the Springs Fire Department extinguished the flames, law enforcement officers discovered the remains of Wilson Illaisaca, 25, of East Hampton, in the passenger seat of the vehicle, Sini said. Illaisaca’s cause of death was thermal injury and smoke inhalation with blunt force trauma as a contributing factor, according to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner.

Approximately 55 minutes after the crash, a toxicology report found Pantosin’s blood alcohol level to be 0.22 percent, more than two times the legal limit, Sini said.

Bail was set at $1,000 at Pantosin’s arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court, which he posted; Pantosin then fled Suffolk County sometime before his next scheduled court appearance in March, 1999, Sini said.

In 2003, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office indicted Pantosin for charges, including manslaughter, in connection with the crash, Sini said.

Pantosin was identified by law enforcement officers in Harris County, Texas, as having outstanding warrants in Suffolk County, Sini said. Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department’s fugitive squad were notified and traveled to Texas, where they arrested Pantosin at a residence; the fugitive squad extradited the defendant from Texas and escorted him back to Suffolk County on Feb. 28, 2018, Sini said.

Patch photos courtesy Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.