The Rich Sometimes Do Get Away With Murder
Dave Gibson
March 03, 2009
Anderson, the CEO of Engineering Enterprises Inc. was originally charged with vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide but was allowed to plead guilty to only a misdemeanor DWI and leaving the scene of an accident.
His victim, Florence Cioffi, was just leaving a party with friends, where they celebrated her upcoming 60th birthday. She was attempting to hail a cab, when Anderson´s Mercedes SUV mowed her down.
Witnesses said that Cioffi´s body was thrown into the air upon impact. She was taken to New York Downtown Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
Anderson was driving 60 mph down Water St. in lower Manhattan when he hit Cioffi Attorney Jeffrey Minsk who is representing her family, said that witnesses stated Anderson never applied the brakes after running over Cioffi.
The New York Post reported that though Anderson´s passenger begged him to stop, he sped away, leaving the woman in the street. Anderson returned about 20 minutes later.
Upon his return, Anderson refused to take a breathalyzer test, to determine his blood alcohol content (BAC). According to the police report, Anderson´s eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. After he was placed under arrest, he was taken to the hospital for a court ordered blood test. The results of that test have never been disclosed to the public.
Ironically, Cioffi was actually a survivor of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, by chance she went on a coffee break just before the first plane slammed into the buildings. She was a 27 year employee of the insurance firm Frenkel & Co., where she worked as a private asset manager.
Her longtime fiance, William Mosca said: "She survived the trade center, and she was run down like a dog in the street."
Cioffi and Mosca had lived together for 16 years in Brooklyn's Gerritsen Beach neighborhood.
Shortly after the sentence was read, Cioffi´s sister, Lily Alias stated: "While we never expected a death sentence or an extraordinarily long prison term, a plea arrangement which amounts to nothing more that 15 days is simply insufficient."
In addition to his 15-day jail sentence, Anderson will have to pay a $350 fine.
Under the original charges, Anderson could have been sentenced up to 7 years in prison.
While Anderson´s plea agreement is an insult to Cioffi´s family, the sentence imposed by Judge James Burke is light even considering the lesser charges.
Under New York law, a first conviction DWI is indeed considered a misdemeanor. However, depending upon the circumstances, a sentence of up to a year in jail is possible. Also, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury is a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail, and a fine of $500-$1000.
Cioffi family attorney Jeffrey Minsk summed up the sentence when he told reporters: "The sentence is unjust...Essentially what happened is a rich man got away with murder."
In a country where a billionaire scam artist can steal the life´s savings of his clients, and continue living in his luxurious Manhattan penthouse; and a millionaire can get loaded and run down someone´s mom in the street, and receive only a two-week sentence…Is it any wonder why the American people are angrier than ever?
As Thomas Jefferson once said: "Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor."