A Howell man has pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree vehicular homicide in connection with an April 2014 crash on Alexander Avenue in Howell that took the life of a 21-year-old rear seat passenger in the car, Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.
Joseph M. Gonsalves, 21, entered the plea on March 16 before state Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, sitting in Freehold, as part of a negotiated plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office.
Gonsalves is scheduled for sentencing before Oxley on May 22.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, the prosecutor’s office will recommend Oxley sentence Gonsalves to a five-year New Jersey state prison term, pursuant to the No Early Release Act, requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole.
He would be under parole supervision for three years following his release from prison.
The fatal crash occurred at about 10 p.m. April 16, 2014, along Alexander Avenue in the area of Larabee Boulevard in Howell.
An investigation by the prosecutor’s office, the Monmouth County Serious Collision Analysis Response Team and the Howell Police Department revealed Gonsalves was operating a 2008 Nissan Altima in an eastbound direction on Alexander Avenue when he lost control of his vehicle as he attempted to negotiate a curve in the road, causing his vehicle to skid and travel off the road.
Gonsalves’ vehicle continued to skid, striking a residential mailbox before colliding with two trees and then crashing into a third tree where the vehicle came to rest.
Ronald M. Tremblay, 21, of Howell, who was an unrestrained rear seat passenger in the vehicle, sustained significant traumatic injuries. Tremblay received emergency treatment at the scene before being transported to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, Lakewood, where he died from his injuries, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The front seat passenger — a 21-year-old Manalapan man — and Gonsalves, who were both wearing seatbelts, were treated and released from the same medical center.
The investigation determined Gonsalves and the other occupants of the motor vehicle had been drinking prior to traveling in Gonsalves’ vehicle.
After the crash, a blood sample taken from Gonsalves determined he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.147 percent, almost twice the legal limit in New Jersey, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Gonsalves remains free, pending sentencing, on $75,000 bail.