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SCHOHARIE — It took a jury less than six hours of deliberation to determine that Nauman Hussain was guilty of manslaughter for his role in the deadly limousine crash that killed 20 on Oct. 6, 2018, but for those who waited nearly five years for the verdict, justice has yet to be fully served.
Questions still remain about the Mavis Discount Tire repair shop that serviced the 2001 stretched Ford Excursion SUV’s brakes in the months leading up to the crash, and whether Hussain’s father, Shahed Hussain, used his connections as a former FBI informant to skirt state and federal laws that could have prevented the wreck.
“Partial justice has been served today. Partial justice,” said Mary Ashton, whose son, Michael Ukaj was killed in the crash.
Still, the verdict, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, brought waves of tears from the dozens of family members of those killed that huddled closely in the third-floor courtroom, and who, for nearly five years, have worked to change state and federal regulations pertaining to the limousine industry while continuing to seek justice for their loved ones killed in the wreck.
“I was feeling a lot of turmoil, like how could it possibly take this long from them to make their decision. I was praying. I was hopeful,” said Jill Richardson Perez, whose son Matthew Coons was killed in the wreck.
Some let out loud gasps as the jury foreman read the verdict, which briefly paused the proceedings, eliciting a response from the court officers. Tissues and hugs were passed around as the foreman responded “guilty” to each of the 20 manslaughter counts — one for each victim killed in the wreck.
When State Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch dismissed the panel of eight women and four men who rendered the verdict, the families gave the group a standing ovation.
Hussain, 33, was the operator of Prestige Limousine & Chauffeur Service, the Wilton-based company owned by his father that rented the 2001 stretched Ford Excursion SUV to a group of 17 friends from the Amsterdam area to attend a birthday celebration in Cooperstown.
But the group never made it to the celebration after the vehicle suffered catastrophic brake failure descending a steep hill on state Route 30, eventually careening through the intersection of Route 30A and crashing into a car at the Apple Barrel Country Store and hitting a culvert at speeds in excess of 100 mph.
All 17 passengers, the vehicle’s driver and two bystanders were killed in what remains the deadliest automobile wreck the country has seen in more than a decade.
Shahed Hussain was not in the country at the time of the crash and has not been charged.
Meanwhile, his youngest son, who prosecutors said intentionally failed to comply with state and federal regulations that would have subjected the limo to rigorous state Department of Transportation inspections that could have prevented the wreck, covered his face when the verdict came down.
He was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs after Lynch ordered him sent to Schoharie County Jail until a sentencing hearing on May 31. Hussain had been out on bail since his arrest just days after the crash.
“Can I give him a hug?” Hussain’s brother, Harris Hussain, asked the court officers as he held his younger brother’s hysterical fiancé in his arms. “No,” an officer responded.
Ashton said she was “saddened” by the scene, but is still not ready to forgive Hussain.
“Honestly I was saddened for him. I really was,” she said. “As much as I want justice for my son, I still felt badly for him. And I can’t tell you why.”
But Ashton also had a question that she said needs to be answered.
“Where’s Mavis in all of this? They should have been brought to the table right from the get-go just as Hussain was,” she said. “Any entity involved who was part of the cause of the crash should be brought to the table.”
Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Hussain, has asked the same question for years, and again on numerous occasions throughout the trial.
Kindlon, who plans to appeal the verdict, maintains that the Mavis Discount Tire repair shop in Saratoga Springs that placed a DMV safety inspection sticker on the Excursion and serviced the vehicle’s brakes on several occasions in the months prior to the wreck should bear responsibility for the crash.
During the trial, Virgil Park, the former manager of the repair shop, admitted that Hussain was charged for brake work that was never performed and that he was not aware the limousines were not subject to DMV inspection. Another mechanic, Thomas Klingman, said placed the inspection on the limo without ever completing the inspection because he felt “pressured” by Park.
“I have a lot of thoughts about Mavis,” Perez said.
She may soon have an answer.
Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen announced Wednesday that her office has requested material from state police seeking information on Mavis’ role in the crash — a sign that a criminal investigation could soon be underway.
Kindlon welcomed the news.
“I’ve known Karen Heggen and her staff for ever and ever and that’s a good, strong, disciplined group of DAs, so if anybody can get that job done, I believe in Karen Heggen and her staff,” he said.
Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: [email protected] or by calling 518-395-3120.
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