The sentence for a Seaford man who killed a 12-year-old boy driving with a suspended license isn’t enough, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said last week.
After the Feb. 24 sentencing of Austin Soldano in the death of Zachary Ranftle of Valley Stream, Singas again called for state lawmakers to pass a bill her office authored to make driving with a revoked or suspended license a felony when it results in injury or death.
“Austin Soldano flagrantly and repeatedly violated the traffic laws, continued driving while his license was suspended and it led directly to Zachary Ranftle’s death,” Singas said in a statement. “This should not be a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of six months in jail; there must be felony penalties.”
Soldano, 30, was sentenced last week to a total of 18 months in jail and five years probation for hitting and killing Ranftle in Valley Stream in December 2014 and another August 2014 drunken driving incident in Long Beach.
The latter came with two misdemeanor charges, a violation and a felony for driving while intoxicated, the DA’s office said.
But Soldano was only charged with a misdemeanor and a violation in Ranftle’s death.
The legislation Singas introduced last year would make driving with a suspended or revoked license a class E felony carrying a maximum jail term of 1 1-3 to four years when it results in serious injury.
Incidents resulting in death would be a class D felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 2 1-3 to seven years in jail.
State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury) and state assemblymen Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) and David McDonough (R-Merrick) have sponsored the bill.
“The legislative session came and went; it is time for Albany to make this change,” Singas said in a statement last week.
The Senate passed a version of it last May, but it died in the Assembly in January. It’s currently in both houses’ transportation committees.
In a statement last week, Martins said he agreed with Singas, Nassau Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti and Ranftle’s family when they called the six-month sentence inadequate.
“No family should have to suffer the loss a child and then have that unbearable pain compounded by watching the person who took their child’s life walk away with a slap on the wrist,” Martins said in the statement. “Albany needs to act now to help ensure this injustice never happens again.”
Soldano was set to be sentenced March 1 for a 2013 conviction on charges of fleeing a police officer and reckless driving, both misdemeanors, in an incident on the Southern State Parkway, the DA’s office said.
During his five-year probation, Soldano must use an ignition interlock device, which requires a driver to take a breathalyzer test before starting their car, the DA’s office said.
His license will be revoked for one year and he must undergo any alcohol treatment or counseling probation officers require, the DA’s office said.
Robert Brunetti, Soldano’s Mineola-based attorney, could not be immediately reached for comment.
