Driver gets prison time in fatal

April 02, 2009 05:54 pm

— The Buffalo-area attorney accused of fatally striking a 19-year-old Burlington Flats woman with his SUV last fall was sentenced Thursday to two and a third to seven years in state prison.
John Duffy, 42, of Orchard Park, received the maximum sentence from Supreme Court Judge John Michalski for his role in the Oct. 18 death of Meghan Sorbera, a 2007 graduate of Edmeston Central School. Duffy pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Court officials said Sorbera’s parents, as well as Duffy’s wife, spoke during the proceeding.
Sorbera, who was a sophomore at Hilbert College, was walking home from work with two friends along the shoulder of South Park Avenue in the town of Hamburg at about 1:35 a.m. when she was struck. Sorbera was tossed several yards by the impact and suffered a severe head injury, police said. She died about six hours later at Erie County Medical Center, according to police.
Hamburg is about 10 miles south of Buffalo.
Duffy’s attorney, Daniel Chiachia, previously told The Daily Star his client believed at first he had struck a garbage can while reaching on the floor for a fallen item and didn’t realize until two days later that he may have been the driver who hit Sorbera.
Footage from a fast-food restaurant’s security camera that showed Duffy’s SUV helped lead to his arrest Oct. 21, according to police.
Duffy admitted he consumed alcohol the night of the accident, according to police, but alcohol-related charges were never lodged against Duffy.
The Buffalo News reported Thursday that Duffy had attended a Buffalo Sabres game the evening of the fatal accident and had five drinks. The newspaper also reported Sorbera’s family has filed a civil suit against Duffy.