Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced that a Morris County man was found guilty today of causing a drunk-driving crash and injuring his passenger.
Franco Gencarelli, 48, of Long Valley was convicted of assault by auto, driving while intoxicated and driving while his license was suspended.
He could be ordered to serve up to 18 months on each count when he is sentenced on January 4, 2016 in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas. The judge also could suspend the defendant’s driving license for 10 years.
During a trial that began on November 9, 2015, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Lorraine Sult presented evidence and testimony showing that Gencarelli was intoxicated when he drove a 2004 BMW sport utility vehicle, crashed into a telephone stand, and injured his passenger on April 20, 2014. The vehicle was owned by the passenger.
The passenger sustained injury to her left arm in the crash, which occurred at about 1:15 a.m. in the parking lot of a convenience store on Riva Avenue in East Brunswick. The passenger was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where she was treated and released.
Gencarelli was charged after blood-alcohol testing showed a reading of 0.11 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.