Riverhead, NY - April 11, 2017 - A Centereach man pleaded guilty on Monday, April 10, 2017 during jury selection in Riverhead to a charge of manslaughter in the first degree for causing the 2010 death of his wife, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
Judge John Toomey will sentence Joseph Jones, 34, to 18 and one-half years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision.
Police found Nicole Tessa's body in December of 2010 in a shallow grave in a wooded area near the couple’s North Patchogue home.
On the day of Tessa's death she fought with her husband and accused Jones of stealing her Oxycodone pills and selling them.