Greece woman sentenced in fatal hit-and-run
A Greece woman was sentenced Wednesday to 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison for a fatal hit-an-run accident that happened in August 2014.
Mariah A. Eccleston pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in a death, a felony, as part of a deal reached with the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and approved by Monroe County Court Judge Christopher S. Ciaccio.
Originally, Eccleston also was indicted on the charge of second-degree vehicular manslaughter.
Eccleston hit pedestrian Joseph L. Pacheco, 20, of Gates on Howard Road, near Castlewood Drive, about 12:15 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2014, and left the scene. Pacheco was walking home alone at the time.
If convicted of the original charges, Eccleston would have faced 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison on each charge, but a deal was reached because of uncertainties on both sides about the outcome of a trial.
Pacheco's son, Alexander, is now 23 months old. The boy's mother, Pacheco's girlfriend, Jessica Haines, said in court before sentencing: "I dread the day Alexander asks me why he doesn't have a daddy."
"I'm sure, to you, four years seems like a death sentence, but to us it will never be enough," Haines, who was crying, told Eccleston.
Eccleston apologized to Pacheco's family.
"I'm sorry for causing you agony and your grief," she said, also in tears.
"I don't dare ask for your forgiveness, that's not fair. I am filled with genuine remorse, guilt, and sadness I will hold onto. I am very sorry," Eccleston said.
Although bound by the plea agreement, Ciaccio said he didn't think the sentence was appropriate.
"You've suffered a lot, but at the end of the day I have somebody that's dead," he said.
Although there was no evidence of alcohol playing a role in the case, Ciaccio spoke as though it was a likely factor.
"It's sheer stupidity. These things don't have to happen," he said.
Although he would have preferred a longer term, Ciaccio told Eccleston the sentence she got is still significant.
"One and a third to four years is a serious term of imprisonment. I've been to the women's correctional facility. It is not a pleasant place," he said.