“It was an emotionally charged morning inside a Schenectady County courtroom where a man was sentenced after pleading guilty to a crash that killed three family members.
A judge sentenced Joseph Duffy to six to 18 years in prison.
Duffy pleaded guilty to several charges, including vehicular manslaughter.
He listened as prosecutors read victim impact statements from family members.
Police say he had drugs and alcohol in his system when he collided with another car on Route 30 in the town of Duanesburg back in September, killing Betty Ann Brockhum, her daughter Vanessa Cohn, and Cohn’s 14-year-old daughter Summer Penny.
“She left twins behind and my grandson,” Raymond Young, Vanessa’s dad, said. “They have to grow up without a mother.”
Speaking after the verdict, the family says they continue to have faith in the justice system, but say this punishment does not fit the crime.
“Things need to change. I can’t imagine the grief this man is going to bring to some other family when gets out,” Monica Stanton, Betty’s daughter, said. “He’s going to do it again.””
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Gullo, Joe. Channel 10 News 18 July 2016.