A man who was involved in a vehicle crash that killed five members of a New Jersey family had been sentenced to a year of probation, according to multiple reports.
Alvin Hubbard III, a resident from Cambridge, was sentenced on Nov. 1 after pleading guilty in June to being involved in a crash that killed 61-year-old Audie Trinidad and his four daughters; Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, Melissa, 13, and Allison, 13, according to CBS Philadephia.
Audie Trinidad’s wife, Mary Rose Ballocanag, was also in the car at the time of the crash. She was transported to a hospital and survived with serious but non-fatal injuries, according to the news outlet.
According to Fox News, Hubbard had not been formally charged until four months after the accident, in which he had plead not guilty to five counts of vehicular homicide, as well as three counts of vehicular assault, among other charges. However, later, the charges were downgraded.
While Mary wanted the courts to give Hubbard the maximum sentence for his crime, which was 14 years, prosecutors for the case pressed for six months of jail time for Hubbard.
They charged Hubbard with five misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle causing death, and two misdemeanor counts of vehicular assault, according to CBS Philadephia.
In his final decision, Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. handed down a sentence of one year of probation, according to Fox News.
“His one life will never be enough for the five people he killed,” Mary said, according to Fox News.
Scott had been appointed to serve in the superior court back in 2003 by Ruth Ann Minner, a Democrat who served as governor from 2001 to 2009, according to Fox News.
People were outraged at the result of the sentencing, and users on social media were quick to express the shock they felt after learning the decision, Fox reported.
The authorities told CBS Philadephia that Hubbard had driven the pickup truck in a criminally negligent manner. Prior to the crash, he had crossed the median strip into oncoming traffic before crashing into the Trininads’ minivan.
CBS New York reported that Hubbard had not been driving under any influence and was driving home from work.
Hubbard’s attorney blamed the tragic crash on a coughing fit which he said interfered with Hubbard’s ability to drive at the time of the crash.
