Attorney General Peter Kilmartin announced that Antonio Caprio (DOB: 6/28/91) with a last known address of 4 Crest View Drive, Scituate, RI, pled nolo contendere today before Superior Court Magistrate John McBurney to DUI death resulting (Mariely Veras), driving to endanger death resulting, DUI serious bodily injury, and two counts of reckless driving with physical injury.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Caprio was sentenced to 15 years with eight to serve and the remainder suspended with probation. Of the eight years, four will be spent at the ACI and four on home confinement. In addition, Caprio will lose his license for three years upon release from home confinement.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on the evening of August 16, 2010 Caprio and three friends, all under the legal drinking age of 21, drove to Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, where witnessed observed Caprio drinking alcohol. On the way back to Providence at approximately 1:30 a.m. on August 17, 2010, Caprio was travelling in excess of 100 mph on 95 North. Near the East Avenue overpass in Warwick, Caprio bumped a vehicle, lost control and rolled his vehicle multiple times. Caprio and Veras, who were not wearing seatbelts, were thrown from the vehicle. Veras died as a result of her injuries. The other passengers suffered serious injuries, and the occupants of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries.
During the course of the investigation, the State Police determined Caprio's BAC was above the legal limit of .08.
"Alcohol, speed, and the lack of seatbelts are the ingredients for a recipe of disaster," said Attorney General Kilmartin. "What had started as a nice summer evening at the beach for Antonio Caprio and his friends, turned into a tragedy with one dead and three seriously injured. Despite the public service campaigns depicting the carnage of alcohol-related accidents, the threats of beefed-up patrols and enhanced penalties by law enforcement and prosecutors, and the pleas by concerned parents, young people continue to get behind the wheel intoxicated, putting their own lives at risk, as well as the lives of their passengers and everyone else on the road."
State Police Trooper Jeff L'Heureux of the State Police Accident Reconstruction Team led the investigation and Assistant Attorney General and Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Jay Sullivan prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.