Glen Cove Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter after Killing Connecticut Woman in Multiple Car Crash

Moss pleads guilty to entire indictment after causing a chain-reaction crash that killed a former college professor

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that Jeff Moss has pleaded guilty to the entirety of a 14-count indictment charging him with Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Criminally Negligent Homicide, and Driving Under the Influence of Drugs in connection with a fatal May 2007 car crash involving six vehicles.  Killed in the chain-reaction crash was 60-year-old Antonia Brancia, of Mansfield, Connecticut.

After accepting Moss’s admission to each count in the indictment, Nassau County Judge David Sullivan promised to sentence the 45-year-old Glen Cove man to a term of two to six years in prison at his next scheduled court appearance, December 1.

Rice said that on the afternoon of May 12, 2007, Moss drove his 2006 Range Rover sport utility vehicle at a high rate of speed into a line of five vehicles waiting at a red light at the intersection of Glen Cove Road and Glen Head Road in Old Brookville. Antonia Brancia was sitting in the front passenger seat of a 2000 Subaru station wagon driven by her husband Sjef van den Berg, 60. Their car was the last of five cars in line at the red light.  The impact broke Brancia’s neck, killing her instantly.  Her husband was left partially paralyzed. Both were former professors at the University of Connecticut.  Brancia and van den Berg were attending their son’s graduation from C.W. Post.

Other motorists involved in the crash suffered injuries ranging from neck and back injuries to broken ribs.

Rice said that blood drawn from the defendant after the crash revealed high levels of gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, in his system.  GHB is a central nervous system depressant used to treat a variety of medical issues.  The drug can also be taken illegally as a recreational intoxicant or by body builders looking for an increase in human growth hormone.  Rice said that the intoxicating effects of the drug can mirror a person’s use of alcohol.

“Mr. Moss’s judgment was so impaired at the time of the crash that he never even hit the breaks before plowing into this line of innocent motorists,” Rice said. “We were prepared to take this case to trial before the defendant chose to take responsibility for his actions.  This family will never be the same because of this defendant’s decisions and this defendant’s disregard for everyone else on the road that day.”

Moss pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Criminally Negligent Homicide, Assault in the Second Degree, Vehicular Assault in the Second Degree, five counts of Assault in the Third Degree, Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Drugs, Driving While Ability Impaired by the Combined Influence of Drugs and Reckless Driving.  He faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. 

Assistant District Attorney Anna Acquafredda of the DA’s County Court Trial Bureau, and Matthew Lampert, of the DA’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau, are handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office.  Moss is being represented by Stephen Scaring, Esq.