Bribery ploy to free ICE detainee sinks Oceanside DWI crash suspect’s bail

A Nassau County judge revoked the bail of Diana Kutateladze, the Oceanside woman charged in the March wrong-way, drunken-driving crash that killed a Long Island church couple, according to reports.

Justice Howard Sturim remanded the 36-year-old mother — who has been in a wheelchair since the crash — into custody after prosecutors revealed she was indicted in Louisiana on federal bribery charges, Newsday reported.

That indictment, unsealed July 15, alleges that Kutateladze offered an unnamed public official Patron Silver tequila and a $100 gift card on Jan. 11, 2024, in an attempt to get an ICE detainee released, then followed up with offers of $1,000 and later $2,000 in online payments, according to the the Newsday report, which cited federal prosecutors.

The official reported the contact to supervisors, triggering the investigation. Kutateladze, who also goes by Diana Tambieva, has not yet entered a federal plea.

Nassau prosecutor Michael Bushwack argued she was “an absolute, significant flight risk,” given the new charges. Kutateladze’s attorney, Sara Pervez, offered to surrender her passport along with those of her mother and children, but the judge was unpersuaded.

The bribery case adds to the 23-count Nassau indictment Kutateladze already faces for the March 15 crash, covered extensively by Greater Long Island.

Prosecutors allege she was driving her Cadillac Escalade over 81 mph with a 0.15% blood alcohol content — nearly double the legal limit — when she sideswiped another car, crossed the median on the Southern State Parkway, and struck a Toyota Highlander head-on.

The Highlander was carrying Bishop Donald Maxwell, 82, and his wife, Rev. Liscent Maxwell, 88, leaders of the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Far Rockaway. Liscent Maxwell was decapitated; her husband was “completely crushed,” Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly has said.

The couple’s driver and Kutateladze’s husband were also seriously injured and hospitalized for weeks. Kutateladze faces up to 25 years if convicted on the vehicular homicide charges. Her next court date is Monday.

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