FILE - In this Tuesday, July 29, 2014, file photo, Joseph Beer is escorted from the courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., where he reached a plea deal. Beer, a New York City teenager who admitted smoking marijuana and speeding before crashing into a tree in 2012, killing four of his friends, is due to be sentenced in a Long Island courtroom. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman, File) (The Associated Press)
MINEOLA, N.Y. – A New York City teenager involved in a fiery crash on a Long Island roadway that killed his four friends is set to be sentenced.
Joseph Beer of Queens pleaded guilty in July to aggravated vehicular homicide. He told a Nassau County judge he had smoked marijuana and was speeding when his high-performance sports car crashed into a tree on the Southern State Parkway in October 2012.
A jury in June had deadlocked on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge. A month later, Beer pleaded guilty, saying he wanted to spare the victims' families the ordeal of a second trial.
Beer was 17 at the time of the crash. A judge will decide Tuesday if he gets 4 years as a youthful offender. Otherwise, he's looking at a 5-to-15 year term.
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