Thread: NJ-Morris County Illegal pleads guilty to hit-and-run | Alice Myers

Morris County motorist pleads guilty to hit-and-run crash that killed Newton pedestrian

By Jim Lockwood
Monday June 08, 2009, 2:26 PM


The intersection of Mount Kembel Avenue and Doughty Street, where a hit and run collision killed a pedestrian. Andy Maguino, the driver, pleaded guilty today.

MORRISTOWN -- A Morris Township man today pleaded guilty to striking and killing a 72-year-old Newton woman in a hit-and-run collision in Morristown in December, and now faces being sentenced to between one to five years of probation.

Although he was an unlicensed driver and initially fled, Andy Maguino, 30, of Morris Township is not facing any jail time because the pedestrian was hit as she was crossing against a green light in a poorly lit area, and he was not driving recklessly, speeding or intoxicated, a prosecutor said in court today.

Maguino, a native of Peru who is an alleged illegal alien, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Morristown to third-degree leaving the scene of an accident that caused serious bodily injuries, and a traffic summons of being an unlicensed driver.

Sentencing was set for July 24.

The Dec. 13 incident occurred around 6:30 p.m., when Maguino was driving a delivery car, a 1993 Honda Accord, for a local restaurant and hit pedestrian Alice Myers, 72, of Newton, as she was walking across Mount Kemble Avenue near Doughty Street, authorities said. Myers died just after 1 a.m. on Dec. 14 at Morristown Memorial Hospital, authorities said.

An hour after the collision, Maguino returned to the scene and told police he was the driver of the car that hit Myers, and that he fled because he "panicked," Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Lavery told Judge Thomas Manahan.

Maguino was driving at 35 mph, which was the speed limit there, and his urine and blood samples came back negative for intoxicants, Lavery said.

"There does not appear to be any indication that Mr. Maguino was driving recklessly. It appears the victim was crossing against a green light in a poorly lit area," Lavery said in court. "He returned and told the officer he was the driver. He was contrite and remorseful, and explained that he panicked."

There is no presumption of incarceration on the leaving-the-scene charge, and the state will seek to have Maguino sentenced to an unspecified term of probation, as well as to perform 75 hours of community service and pay various fines, said Maguino's attorney, Anthony Randazzo.

Maguino was not charged with death-by-auto. Along with the charges to which he pleaded guilty, he was charged also with third-degree endangering a helpless victim by leaving the scene, and two other traffic tickets -- leaving the scene and failing to report an accident. These three charges merge into the other two for sentencing purposes.

On Dec. 16, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency filed a detainer on Maguino, "a Peruvian national who is in this country illegally," court documents state.

Manahan asked for the immigration status of Maguino. Speaking in Spanish translated by an interpreter, Maguino said he has an "open case" and is "fighting" deportation. Under questioning by Randazzo, Maguino said he understood that he could end up being deported by ICE due to his guilty plea.


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