Seaford man gets 6 months for killing boy in crash

A Seaford man was sentenced to six months in jail for causing the death of a 12-year-old boy while driving with a suspended license. Austin Soldano, 30, pleaded guilty to running over seventh-grader

News 12 Staff

Feb 25, 2016, 3:29 AM

Updated 3,120 days ago

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A Seaford man was sentenced to six months in jail for causing the death of a 12-year-old boy while driving with a suspended license.
Austin Soldano, 30, pleaded guilty to running over seventh-grader Zachary Ranftle in a Valley Stream pedestrian crossing in December 2014. At the time of the incident, Ranftle had a suspended license for multiple DWI arrests.
In court, Soldano said he had "no words to express how remorseful" he was.
"I truly am sorry," he said.
Judge Angelo Deligatti said "the law in this instance is inadequate." He sentenced him to six months in jail for killing Ranftle. On an unrelated DWI charge, he will be required to serve a jail term of one full year. Each term is to run consecutively, totaling 18 months.
Ranftle's mother Kathleen Flood said the sentence was not enough.
"It should be more," said Flood.
The Nassau County District Attorney's Office has renewed its call to support Angelica's Law, which could have forced a sentence of up to seven years.
Angelica's Law, named after a teen who was killed in Medford by a driver whose license had been suspended seven times, would raise the penalty from a misdemeanor to E felony status.
The proposed law is still tied up in the state Assembly Transportation Committee and has never been allowed to come to the Assembly floor for a full vote.