Originally Posted by
FBinNY
BTW- there's no mention of whether this sentence was within guidelines or not, albeit low. It's entirely possible that it was, which means the issue needs correction at the legislative level.
What was asked for:
Given the class D felony conviction and Montelbano’s exceptional history of reckless driving, prosecutors recommended a sentence of two to six years in state prison and a permanent license revocation.
vs. what was handed down:
Instead Judge Anthony Ferrara sentenced Montelbano to six months in jail and five years probation, and revoked his driving privileges for two years. Per the terms of the sentence, Montelbano is prohibited from driving a commercial vehicle for five years, and his New York commercial vehicle license was permanently revoked.
There are those around here who would claim the original sentence recommended by the prosecutor was too lenient. Considering what the prosecutor pushed for, I don't see the actual sentence as being too far off the mark.
And as a reply to the OP, yes I think it's relatively safe to ride the roads, even with people like this driving motor vehicles. He's not the only one who drive as dangerously, but thankfully, people like this are few and far between. Besides, he seems to be more of a threat to pedestrians than cyclists.