NORTHAMPTON — A Chicopee man was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to a motor vehicle homicide charge stemming from a 2023 crash in South Hadley that killed his passenger.
Anellio Rivera, 22, pleaded guilty Oct. 14 in Eastern Hampshire District Court to a single count of negligent motor vehicle homicide.
According to the Northwestern district attorney’s office, the crash occurred on the morning of April 27, 2023. Rivera was driving 58 mph in a 25 mph zone on River Lodge Road when he lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree.
His passenger, 21-year-old Kenny Lopez Rivera of Martinsville, Virginia, was transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he died from his injuries.
Prosecutor Alexa Pascucci requested a two-year jail sentence, citing the danger to the public and the death of the victim. Defense attorney Thomas Kokonowski argued for a two-year sentence with only 30 days to be served and the remainder suspended.
Judge William Rooney imposed a two-year sentence to the House of Correction, with one year to be served and the balance suspended for a two-year probationary period. As a condition of probation, Rivera must remain drug and alcohol free and submit to random testing. His driver’s license was also revoked for 15 years.