DA: Flanders Man Convicted of Killing Woman While Driving Drunk to be Sentenced

A Flanders man who was convicted of driving drunk when he struck and killed a woman delivering newspapers to stores in the Hampton Bays business district last year, will be sentenced on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., according to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

Prosecutors will be recommending the maximum prison sentence for Joseph Perez, 31, according to Spota.

Last month, after a three-week trial, a jury convicted Perez of aggravated vehicular homicide, second degree manslaughter and second degree vehicular manslaughter, according to the DA

Perez had a blood alcohol content of .20 four hours after the fatal crash on January 5, 2014, according to the DA.

He drove his Ford pickup onto the shoulder of Montauk Highway near the Ponquogue Avenue intersection and sideswiped a parked car and then the victim’s car as newspaper delivery person Donna Sartori was outside of her car delivering newspapers to stores at around 4:15 a.m., according to the DA.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, the DA said.

A conviction for aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony, is punishable by imprisonment in an upstate correctional facility for up to 25 years.