Driver sentenced to prison for causing fiery crash that killed 4 people

ELLSWORTH, Maine — The driver who caused a fiery crash that killed four Maine Maritime Academy classmates in December 2022 was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter at his sentencing Friday.

Joshua Goncalves-Radding, of North Babylon, New York, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated drunken driving.

He was traveling between 105 and 110 mph before the SUV struck a tree and caught fire, investigators said. Those killed were Brian Kenealy, 20, of York, Maine; Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner, Maine; Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Massachusetts; and Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, Mass., officials said.

The accident occurred after students were discharged following the last day of classes of the semester.

Goncalves-Radding made an emotional statement in which he took responsibility and apologized to the families. Fossett's parents asked for a more lenient sentence and hugged him in tears during the break. “No one wanted this to happen,” Laura Fossett said.

“This was a situation in which a good person made a horrible decision that cost the lives of four of his best friends,” said District Attorney Robert C. Granger. “No sentence the state could recommend or the court could impose can rival that of itself. -Convicted defendant recounts every day he wakes up: he realizes he's killed his four best friends and injured two others.

Two other students survived, besides Goncalves-Radding. The Land Rover the students were in belonged to the father of one of them, Dominick Gecoya, of Middleton, Massachusetts. The other survivor was Noelle Tavares, 20, of North Falmouth, Massachusetts.