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An upstate limo company operator was convicted of manslaughter charges Wednesday in the horrific 2018 crash that killed 20 people, including 17 revelers headed to a surprise birthday party, according to reports.
Nauman Hussain, 33, the former operator of Prestige Limousine, now faces up to 15 years in prison for the Oct. 6, 2018, catastrophe that also killed the driver and two bystanders outside a convenience store near a Schoharie intersection, the Albany Times-Union reported.
He is due to be sentenced on May 31.
The jury convicted Hussain of 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter after just six hours of deliberation, with the victims’ relatives bursting into tears in court as the verdict was read shortly after 2 p.m., the outlet said.
Prosecutors argued last week that Hussain bears “personal responsibility” for the deadly crash, and said that safety standards had not been kept up for the limo.
Hussain’s lawyers countered that a local Mavis repair shop and state DOT inspectors should bear the blame, saying that both were aware that the limo should not have been cleared to hit the road.
“Hussain had true belief that he had repaired the brake system, that the breaks were in fine and working order,” defense attorney Lee Kindlon told the jury during closing arguments Tuesday.
