The 20-year-old driver who was found guilty in a 2013 car crash on the Arborway that left two individuals with horrific injuries was sentenced Wednesday to one year behind bars.
The driver, Nikolas Papadopoulos, 20, was convicted last month of negligent operation of a motor vehicle in the Sept. 6, 2013, collision.
According to the Boston Globe's report, the mother of one of the victims lashed out at Papadopoulos during today's sentencing hearing:
“What about the sentence you imposed on Mark?” asked Sheila Delamere, referring to her 17-year-old son. “He doesn’t get a do-over.”
Mark’s life “is not his own,” she said Wednesday in Brighton Municipal Court.
Universal Hub explains that the judge actually sentenced Papadopoulos to two years in jail, but suspended half the sentence on the provision he stay out of trouble for five years.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, Papadopoulos was operating a 2003 Mazda Tribute westbound on the Arborway at approximately 2 p.m. on the date of the crash. Also in the vehicle were three younger passengers: a 14-year-old from Chestnut Hill, another 14-year-old from West Roxbury, and a 15-year-old also from West Roxbury.
Papadopoulos was traveling well over the speed limit when his vehicle crossed the center line and crashed into a 2004 Ford F-150 pickup truck. The truck’s driver, a 33-year-old Dorchester man, suffered life-altering injuries and can no longer move about or communicate on his own. His passenger, a 34-year-old Quincy man, suffered less serious injuries. One of Papadopoulos’ 14-year-old passengers suffered a traumatic brain injury after being ejected from the vehicle and now uses a wheelchair; the other 14-year-old passenger was seriously injured. Neither was wearing his seatbelt. The 15-year-old passenger suffered less serious injuries.