1 Photo
Sean Ludwick was denied parole on September 4. PRESS FILE
Parole was denied this month to Sean Ludwick, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to crashing his car while drunk in 2015 and leaving his passenger, Paul Hansen of Sag Harbor, to die on the side of the road.
The once prominent real estate developer in Manhattan, who was a part-time Bridgehampton resident, had pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, both felonies—along with aggravated DWI, a misdemeanor—as part of a deal in which he would serve between three and nine years in a state prison.
Under the deal, Mr. Ludwick was expected to serve concurrent sentences of three to nine years on the first count, one to three years on the second count, and one year on the third count.
Mr. Ludwick has been incarcerated since January 2016, and was given his first opportunity for parole on September 4. According to a documents official with the State Department of Corrections, his request for parole was denied, and his next hearing will not take place for another 18 months, in March 2020.
Bob Hansen, the brother of the victim, said this week that Mr. Ludwick has not been in jail long enough to deserve parole, despite being imprisoned for nearly 32 months.
In court, Mr. Ludwick admitted to driving his vehicle with a blood-alcohol content level of 0.18 percent, driving recklessly and causing the death of Mr. Hansen. He also admitted to driving away from the scene. In pleading guilty, Mr. Ludwick waived his right to appeal the conviction.
Court documents show that after the crash, Southampton Town Police found Mr. Ludwick standing next to his damaged Porsche convertible on Woodvale Street in Sag Harbor, about a quarter-mile from the place where the accident occurred and not far from Mr. Hansen’s residence on Rolling Hill Court East. He was heading toward his Bridgehampton home, said police, who they traced trails of fluid and gouged pavement marks from the damaged car rims back to the accident scene, where Mr. Hansen was found dead.
Mr. Ludwick was arrested and after posting bail traveled to Puerto Rico with the intent of buying a sailboat and leaving the country, according to prosecutors, before being taken back into custody and held without bail.
Greg Wehner on Sep 17, 2018