Suffolk DA: Manhattan Developer Pleads Guilty To Fatal East End Crash, Leaving Scene, DWI
Sag Harbor, NY - August 15, 2017 - The Manhattan real estate developer who recklessly caused the fatal crash in August of 2015 in Sag Harbor that killed his passenger pleaded guilty today to aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and aggravated driving while intoxicated, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
Sean P. Ludwick, 44, who apologized in court today to the family of the victim Paul Hansen, will be sentenced in October by State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho to three to nine years in state prison; three to nine years for the top count of aggravated vehicular homicide, one to three years for leaving to scene and one year for the aggravated driving while intoxicated charge – all to be served concurrently in an upstate correctional facility.
“The defendant’s blood taken five hours after the crash had a blood alcohol level of .18 percent, and the collision reconstruction by Sag Harbor Village Police, the New York State Police Forensic ID & Collision Reconstruction Unit and our Vehicular Crimes Bureau clearly established that the defendant left the scene in his damaged Porsche and traveled more than a block away where police found him and his disabled car on Woodvale Street,” DA Spota said. The district attorney’s office will recommend Ludwick be sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison.
Real estate broker Paul Hansen, 53, of Sag Harbor died at the scene in front of his house on Rolling Hill Court where Ludwick struck a utility pole at a curve on August 30, 2015.
Justice Camacho scheduled Ludwick’s formal sentencing for October 18.