James Ryan sentenced to at least 5 years in death of Officer Joseph Olivieri

An Oakdale man was sentenced to five to 12 years in prison in connection with the vehicular death of a Nassau County police officer.  James Ryan faced up to 20 years behind bars when he was sentenced

News 12 Staff

Mar 10, 2016, 3:26 AM

Updated 3,103 days ago

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An Oakdale man was sentenced to five to 12 years in prison in connection with the vehicular death of a Nassau County police officer. 
James Ryan faced up to 20 years behind bars when he was sentenced Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors said the 29-year-old Ryan was intoxicated when he caused two accidents on the Long Island Expressway back in October 2012. Officer Joseph Olivieri was responding to those accidents when he was fatally struck by another driver.
Ryan was found not guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide. However, he was found guilty of other charges that included criminally negligent homicide, aggravated criminally negligent homicide, vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter and DWI.
Ryan is only the fourth person in New York state to be convicted of aggravated criminally negligent homicide.
He will be eligible for parole in just under five years. His attorney is appealing the conviction.