Wading River Man Sentenced to 16 Years for East Quogue Crash That Killed 82-Year-Old

A Wading River man was sentenced to 16 years in prison this week after pleading guilty to causing — while ​impaired by prescription medication and marijuana — a high-speed crash in June 2023 in East Quogue that killed an 82-year-old man from Queens

George Hackett, 54, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular manslaughter and six other felonies in March and was sentenced on Tuesday, April 29, by Acting Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski in a Riverside courtroom.

Hackett had been convicted of DWI three times before the fatal accident — including twice in 2016 alone — and was found to have marijuana and Xanax in his system at the time of the crash.

His Hyundai SUV was found to have reached speeds of up to 113 mph on Sunrise Highway between Exits 63 and 64 when it struck a Nissan driven by Franklin Blake, who was ejected from his vehicle and died from his injuries.

Hackett tried to flee the scene, as his vehicle had rolled over and landed upright following the violent collision. But it broke down a short distance up the road from the crash and Hackett fled on foot. He was apprehended a short time later about a mile away, walking on Route 24 in Flanders.

He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter in the second degree, leaving the scene of an accident, assault in the second degree, driving while impaired by the combined influence of drugs and two counts of driving while impaired by drugs — all felonies — as well as reckless driving, a misdemeanor.

District Attorney Raymond Tierney’s office had asked Pilewski for a sentence of between 12 and 25 years in prison for Hackett.

“Today’s sentencing is just, but it can never heal the tragic loss of the Blake family,” Tierney said in a statement following the sentencing on Tuesday. “The defendant’s reckless decision to drive at excessive speed showed a complete disregard for human life and safety.”