Driver in DUI accident that injured Neshaminy teens asks judge to reduce prison sentence

Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times
·3 min read
1

The unlicensed driver who seriously injured five people, four of them Neshaminy High School students, in a drunk driving accident last year wants a Bucks County judge to reconsider the amount of prison time he must serve.

A hearing on the request is scheduled for later this month before Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley, who handed down the original 15-year minimum sentence for Shane Brolly earlier this year.

Finley decided that Brolly, a 25-year-old Irish citizen, must serve a minimum of at least three years, but no more than six, for each of the five most serious charges stemming from the March 27, 2021 accident. His sentences are being served consecutively.

Reunion of Neshaminy High School juniors who were injured from a DUI crash accident, March 2021, were Julia Aquilone, (second from the left), 17, Julianna Mazzoni, 17, Angelique Corsina, 17, and Taylor Donnelly, 17, Sunday, April 25, 2021.
Reunion of Neshaminy High School juniors who were injured from a DUI crash accident, March 2021, were Julia Aquilone, (second from the left), 17, Julianna Mazzoni, 17, Angelique Corsina, 17, and Taylor Donnelly, 17, Sunday, April 25, 2021.

For subscribers:How a teen driver 'likely saved lives' when a drunk driver hit her car full with 3 friends on a Bucks County road

The maximum prison time Brolly could serve is 30 years.

He was also ordered to pay more than $62,000 in restitution to two of the Neshaminy victims and three people in a second car involved in the accident.

The Bucks County DA's office will oppose any modification or reduction in the sentence, said prosecutor Christine Sassane, who is handling the case. Brolly’s attorney William Buchanan declined to comment.

Brolly is currently incarcerated in state prison in SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County, but he is scheduled to be moved at an unknown date to Smithville, a corrections facility on the grounds of SCI Huntingdon in Western Pennsylvania.

Brolly pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and attempting to illegally pass a car resulting in a crash that seriously injured the four high school students, as well as himself and his passenger.

He entered an open guilty plea, meaning he faced a potential maximum sentence of 20 years on each of five felony charges.

Exclusive 'Neshaminy 4' stories'Extreme indifference': DA alleges hours of drinking, ignored pleas and a hit and run before 'Neshaminy 4' crash

The teens — known collectively as the Neshaminy 4 — graduated from Neshaminy High School in June and all are attending Penn State University main campus, according to Victor Corsino, the father of Angelique Corsino, one of the victims.

Brolly was living in the United States a little less than two years at the time of the March 2021 accident, according to authorities.

He was illegally living in Philadelphia on an expired work visa when the accident happened and had only a revoked UK driver's license. He also is a wanted man in Ireland, where he fled in 2019 before he was sentenced for a DUI charge there.

Toxicology results found Brolly had a blood alcohol content of .21, nearly three times the legal limit for driving in Pennsylvania, at the time of the crash along Bridgetown Pike in Northampton.

In the southbound lane, a 2019 Mazda CX5 carrying the teens was headed to Lower Southampton. Three passengers in the car Brolly attempted to pass were not injured.

Brolly’s injured passenger testified at a preliminary hearing that he and Brolly had been drinking alcoholic beverages for at least six hours before the accident.

The posted speed limit in that section of Bridgetown Pike is 45 mph, but an accident reconstruction expert testified that five seconds before impact Brolly accelerated from 57 to 70 mph and there was no evidence he applied the brakes.

The car the teens were riding in was traveling at 40 mph and the driver applied the brakes two seconds before the airbags deployed, an accident reconstruction expert said.

Following the accident, community members organized multiple fundraisers for the families including a GoFundMe campaign started by a Northampton couple who helped rescue the girls that raised more than $150,000 toward the families' medical expenses.

More exclusive 'Neshaminy 4' contentNorthampton couple recounts terrifying rescue of 4 Neshaminy students from burning car

DUI accident leaves 2 lives wreckedFar from home, he made a life in Bucks County. Then a drunk driver ended it.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Driver in DUI crash that injured Neshaminy teens asks for new sentence