PATERSON, N.J. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a former New Jersey police officer to 9 ½ years in prison for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
The Record reports the judge spared Jose Urena the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison Thursday, citing his acts of heroism as a police officer.
Authorities say Urena struck 23-year-old Paterson resident JaQuill Fields and his brother Ameen while he was off-duty in June 2015. JaQuill Fields later died at a hospital.
Urena testified during trial that he thought he hit a pothole.
He issued an apology to the Fields family Thursday, saying, “All I ask is that you please forgive me.”
Urena served on the Paterson force for nine years.
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Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com
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