When John “Jack” Pieri was first convicted of criminal solicitation in 2010 for encouraging his girlfriend to leave the scene of a serious hit-and-run accident near Daemen College, he was sentenced to a year in jail.
That sentence, however, was later thrown out on a technicality and Pieri instead received a sentence of 30 days in jail and three years probation. That was two years ago.
Now, it turns out, Pieri will be serving his original sentence after all.
Amherst Town Justice Geoffrey Klein sent Pieri back to jail Thursday for repeatedly and flagrantly violating the terms of his probation, which prohibited him from drinking alcohol or leaving Erie County without permission.
By refusing to listen to his probation officer, Klein said, “he was also violating what I told him to do.”
The Town of Tonawanda resident became the first person in state history to serve jail time as a car passenger in a hit-and-run accident. Until Pieri’s case, many defense lawyers considered it far-fetched for a vehicle passenger to be criminally convicted for simply speaking to the driver directly involved in a hit-and-run accident.
Pieri, 40, encouraged his girlfriend, Andrea L. Glinski, to speed away after she struck two young women at about 1:40 a.m. in March 2009, at the red light at Main Street and Campus Drive in Snyder.
In describing the next few days after the incident, Pieri stated that he remembered telling Glinski, “Well, if the light’s green when I hit an animal, is it really your fault or the animal’s?”
Glinski was sentenced to one to three years in prison. She pleaded guilty to two felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident that left University at Buffalo graduate Amy Stewart and Daemen College senior Rachel Baird seriously injured.
Stewart, who suffered lifelong injuries and was in court on Thursday, wept when Pieri turned to her in court and apologized for his actions, saying that if there was anything he could do to help her, he would.
“There are things he can’t fix,” she later said between sobs.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Omel laid out for the court how Pieri was seen by the DA’s own staff attending concerts in Niagara County without permission on six different occasions. On four of those occasions, he was clearly seen drinking alcohol.
District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said, “People who are from my office – and are not on probation and therefore are allowed to drink – see him out and they know who he is.”
Two visits to his home by probation officers also turned up alcohol there.
He was repeatedly warned by his probation officer after many of these incidents that he was violating his probation terms and would face serious consequences if he continued to buy and drink alcohol or leave Erie County without permission, Omel said.
“He’s been given every opportunity,” she said.
Pieri’s lawyer, Frank Lotempio III, acknowledged Pieri violated his probation, but argued that the nature of his violations do not merit a full year in jail, especially in light of the fact that he has no alcohol abuse issues, but rather a learning disability, which was only recently uncovered.
“I think the court can see the learning disability comes into play here,” LoTempio said. “John doesn’t listen. Maybe he needs mental health counseling more than anything else.”
He also said Pieri was a productive citizen with a job, a car and an apartment – all of which he’d lose if he was sentenced to a full jail term.
Klein was unmoved, however.
So was Stewart, who said that Pieri deserves to lose things, things that he could one day get back once he’s released from jail.
She said, “I lost things I can never get back.”
email: stan@buffnews.com
That sentence, however, was later thrown out on a technicality and Pieri instead received a sentence of 30 days in jail and three years probation. That was two years ago.
Now, it turns out, Pieri will be serving his original sentence after all.
Amherst Town Justice Geoffrey Klein sent Pieri back to jail Thursday for repeatedly and flagrantly violating the terms of his probation, which prohibited him from drinking alcohol or leaving Erie County without permission.
By refusing to listen to his probation officer, Klein said, “he was also violating what I told him to do.”
The Town of Tonawanda resident became the first person in state history to serve jail time as a car passenger in a hit-and-run accident. Until Pieri’s case, many defense lawyers considered it far-fetched for a vehicle passenger to be criminally convicted for simply speaking to the driver directly involved in a hit-and-run accident.
Pieri, 40, encouraged his girlfriend, Andrea L. Glinski, to speed away after she struck two young women at about 1:40 a.m. in March 2009, at the red light at Main Street and Campus Drive in Snyder.
In describing the next few days after the incident, Pieri stated that he remembered telling Glinski, “Well, if the light’s green when I hit an animal, is it really your fault or the animal’s?”
Glinski was sentenced to one to three years in prison. She pleaded guilty to two felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident that left University at Buffalo graduate Amy Stewart and Daemen College senior Rachel Baird seriously injured.
Stewart, who suffered lifelong injuries and was in court on Thursday, wept when Pieri turned to her in court and apologized for his actions, saying that if there was anything he could do to help her, he would.
“There are things he can’t fix,” she later said between sobs.
Assistant District Attorney Kelley Omel laid out for the court how Pieri was seen by the DA’s own staff attending concerts in Niagara County without permission on six different occasions. On four of those occasions, he was clearly seen drinking alcohol.
District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said, “People who are from my office – and are not on probation and therefore are allowed to drink – see him out and they know who he is.”
Two visits to his home by probation officers also turned up alcohol there.
He was repeatedly warned by his probation officer after many of these incidents that he was violating his probation terms and would face serious consequences if he continued to buy and drink alcohol or leave Erie County without permission, Omel said.
“He’s been given every opportunity,” she said.
Pieri’s lawyer, Frank Lotempio III, acknowledged Pieri violated his probation, but argued that the nature of his violations do not merit a full year in jail, especially in light of the fact that he has no alcohol abuse issues, but rather a learning disability, which was only recently uncovered.
“I think the court can see the learning disability comes into play here,” LoTempio said. “John doesn’t listen. Maybe he needs mental health counseling more than anything else.”
He also said Pieri was a productive citizen with a job, a car and an apartment – all of which he’d lose if he was sentenced to a full jail term.
Klein was unmoved, however.
So was Stewart, who said that Pieri deserves to lose things, things that he could one day get back once he’s released from jail.
She said, “I lost things I can never get back.”
email: stan@buffnews.com