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An Indian citizen who in September became the first person sent from India to face criminal charges in the U.S. in nearly a decade pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree manslaughter in connection with a high-speed crash that killed a Hicksville man in 2005.
Ganesh Shenoy, 54, is due back in court March 6 for sentencing and faces 3⅓ to 10 years in prison, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. Her office had recommended a sentence of four to 12 years.
Shenoy fled the country after the April 11, 2005, crash that killed 44-year-old Philip Mastropolo, Donnelly said.
‘Ran from responsibility’
“For the last 20 years, Ganesh Shenoy was a free man in India, while Philip Mastropolo’s wife and children have been forced to live with a hole in their lives that he caused when he struck and killed Philip,” Donnelly said. “This defendant ran from responsibility… but he could not run forever.”
Donnelly’s office said that Shenoy was driving at roughly twice the speed limit and blew through a steady red light at the intersection of Levittown Parkway and Old Country Road in Hicksville about 6 a.m., crashing into Mastropolo’s Cadillac.
The impact sent Mastropolo’s car skidding 65 feet into the front of a stopped box truck. Mastropolo was pronounced dead at the scene.
On April 25, 2005, Shenoy boarded a plane from JFK Airport to Mumbai, India, despite having his New York State driver’s license and Indian passport seized.
He remained in India until being located by the U.S. Marshals Service and extradited back to the U.S. in September.
Donnelly on Friday thanked the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Marshals Service for their role in Shenoy’s extradition.
Top: Photos courtesy of NCDA
