Drunk Driver Sentenced in Crash That Killed Long Island Woman: “I Have Nothing to Say”

A drunk driver who mowed down and killed a woman delivering newspapers in Long Island's Hampton Bays neighborhood last year has been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, the maximum he was facing. 

Joseph Perez, whose blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit the morning of the January 2014 crash, faced the family of 56-year-old Donna Sartori in court during his sentencing Thursday.

"Never once did he show any remorse," said Sartori's husband, Anthony Guggino. "The guy's just not a human being."

Guggino angrily pointed his finger and yelled at Perez as he told him, "You took everything away from us." 

Perez had drank a bottle of whiskey, then gone to a Hamptons club with friends before heading home that morning, according to prosecutors. After hitting Sartori, the 31-year-old Perez sat down on a bench and called his mother, never offering any help to the woman dying in the street nearby.

When given a chance to apologize in court Thursday, Perez uttered simply, "I have nothing to say."

The judge responded by calling him a cold, heartless, self-centered individual before sentencing him to the maximum: 12 and a half to 25 years in prison. 

Sartori was married and had no children but was a godmother to her sister's two children.

Sartori's sister Debra Fox told Perez: "Because of your irresponsible choice, Donna was taken from those who love her in the blink of an eye."

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