Erick Uzcategui (Photo: Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office)
The drunk driver who killed an Ocean Gate police officer in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving in 2010 was sentenced to eight years behind bars Wednesday.
Erick Uzcategui, 34, of Manchester, must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. Superior Court Judge James Blaney handed down the sentence Wednesday afternoon.
Uzcategui was found guilty of vehicular homicide in July, stemming from the accident which killed Officer Jason Marles, who was a Point Pleasant Beach resident. The accident occurred on the Garden State Parkway. Uzcategui had been partying in Seaside Heights earlier in the night and had been drinking and, at one point, used cocaine.
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The trial was prosecuted by Senior Assistant Prosecutors Pat Sheehan and Michael Weatherstone, with assistance from the Ocean County Major Crimes Unit. Det. David Margentino from the Ocean County Fatal Accident Unit investigated the case. Sgt. Matt Rezukas of the New Jersey State Police provided additional critical evidence regarding the crash.
Uzcategui had been out on $250,000 bail since December 2010. He will be remanded to New Jersey State Prison to serve his sentence.
