A Glen Cove woman pleaded guilty Monday to aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges in a drugged driving crash in North Hills that killed a 58-year-old motorcycle passenger and seriously injured her husband, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Nina Varrino, 52, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree assault and driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs.
She is expected to be sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison when she returns to court Nov. 19.
Prosecutors said Varrino was driving a 2025 Kia Sportage on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway between New Hyde Park Road and Shelter Rock Road at about 12:49 p.m. July 12, 2025.
George Pelaez, 64, was riding a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle with his wife, Lisa Pelaez, 58, seated behind him. The couple was heading toward Port Jefferson and planned to visit a motorcycle museum in Oyster Bay, prosecutors said.
Varrino passed out behind the wheel and crashed into the motorcycle, ejecting both riders, according to prosecutors. The Kia and motorcycle became engulfed in flames.
Lisa Pelaez suffered blunt trauma and was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where she died about two hours later.
George Pelaez suffered multiple broken ribs, a fractured spine, fractures to both shoulders and a collapsed lung. He was intubated for about 10 days and remained hospitalized for a month.
Prosecutors said Varrino had worked the previous night as an Uber driver before staying up partying, drinking alcohol and using drugs. Blood taken about four hours after the crash showed active levels of cocaine and Xanax, according to the district attorney.
Investigators also determined that Varrino had been driving erratically on the Cross Island Parkway about an hour and 20 minutes before the fatal crash. She pulled onto the shoulder, where witnesses told her she should not be driving, prosecutors said.
About 12 minutes later, at approximately 11:40 a.m., Varrino crashed into the rear of another vehicle on the Marathon Parkway in Queens, according to prosecutors.
She continued driving before the fatal North Hills crash.
“Lisa Pelaez and her husband, George Pelaez, set out on a clear summer day for what should have been a peaceful motorcycle ride together,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Instead, they were met with terror because Nina Varrino crashed into them while she was high on cocaine and Xanax.”
Varrino was arrested by Nassau County police detectives on Feb. 18, 2026.
