Long Island Man Found Guilty In Chain-Reaction Crash Death Of Officer James Oliveri

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) - A suburban New York man has been found guilty of vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges in the death of a police officer even though another driver was the one who actually hit the officer.

A jury in Nassau County convicted James Ryan on Thursday of 10 of the 13 counts he was charged with.

Ryan was acquitted of the top charge, aggravated vehicular homicide, which carried a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

He now faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced next month, WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs reported.

Prosecutors said Officer Joseph Oliveri's October 2012 death was Ryan's fault because his reckless driving caused a chain-reaction crash.

Ryan's Toyota hit a BMW on the Long Island Expressway and then was hit by another car. A few minutes later, an SUV driver smashed into Ryan's car before hitting Olivieri.

"The jury made it very clear who was responsible for police officer Olivieri's death," Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said. "The Olivieri family is going to have to live with the loss of their son who made the ultimate sacrifice."

Ryan had been free on bail but was remanded to custody pending sentencing.

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