LOCKPORT – The driver whose speeding car smashed into a tree on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation on Aug. 19, inflicting fatal injuries on a passenger, was given a plea offer Wednesday and was told to return to Niagara County Court Jan. 2 to take it or face possible indictment.
Pierce L. Abrams, 21, of Printup Road on the reservation, was offered a chance to plead guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. The charges would carry a maximum seven-year prison term, Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner said.
“We’re considering it,” said defense attorney Joel L. Daniels, who asked County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas for the four-week delay. Farkas ordered Abrams to surrender his driver’s license and allowed him to remain free on his own recognizance.
Lewiston police reported that Abrams’ 2008 four-door Suzuki was speeding west on Mount Hope Road just east of Green Road at about 4:45 a.m. Aug. 19. The vehicle crossed the road, struck a ditch, a culvert and a small boulder, and became airborne before striking the tree and overturning. Passenger Kyle Atkins, 22, of the reservation, died of his injuries Aug. 24 in Erie County Medical Center.
Pierce L. Abrams, 21, of Printup Road on the reservation, was offered a chance to plead guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. The charges would carry a maximum seven-year prison term, Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner said.
“We’re considering it,” said defense attorney Joel L. Daniels, who asked County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas for the four-week delay. Farkas ordered Abrams to surrender his driver’s license and allowed him to remain free on his own recognizance.
Lewiston police reported that Abrams’ 2008 four-door Suzuki was speeding west on Mount Hope Road just east of Green Road at about 4:45 a.m. Aug. 19. The vehicle crossed the road, struck a ditch, a culvert and a small boulder, and became airborne before striking the tree and overturning. Passenger Kyle Atkins, 22, of the reservation, died of his injuries Aug. 24 in Erie County Medical Center.