Oniel Sharpe Jr., of Rockville Centre, gets max sentence in fatal Southern State Parkway hit-and-run

<p>Oniel Sharpe Jr. is expected to receive the maximum sentence of 12 to 36 years in prison.</p>

News 12 Staff

Apr 18, 2017, 12:22 PM

Updated 2,727 days ago

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Oniel Sharpe Jr., of Rockville Centre, gets max sentence in fatal Southern State Parkway hit-and-run
A Rockville Centre man was sentenced to the maximum 12 to 36 years in prison for the drunken driving crash that killed three people on the Southern State Parkway in 2015.
Oniel Sharpe Jr., of Rockville Centre, slammed into the back of a car carrying the Ostane family, from Queens, on July 12. 
The crash killed Ancio Ostane, his 8-year-old son and his 4-year-old daughter. The children's mother survived the crash. Authorities say Sharpe then abandoned his car and was picked up by a friend who drove him to Rockville Centre, where he was arrested four hours later.
Cellphone video presented during the trial appeared to show Sharpe throwing a bottle of tequila into the woods while Ostane's car burned in the background.
"The judge described it best of all. This man watched as a family burned to death," says District Attorney Tom Spota. "What did he do? He was throwing evidence of crime away." 
Prosecutors painted Sharpe as a man who showed no remorse, adding that when the family was fighting for their lives, he was only thinking about himself. 
Sharpe's attorney defended his client describing him as a "man of God" who now "prays for the Ostane family." He says Sharpe doesn't want to ask for forgiveness because he "does not forgive himself."
Sharpe still faces 23 other criminal charges related to the discovery of 23 fraudulent credit cards found in the car he was driving.