A Lindenhurst man who was driving about 121 mph and recording himself on his cellphone before causing a Southern State Parkway crash that killed a West Babylon man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
Felix Pantaleon, 24, was sentenced Friday after previously pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter and other charges in the September 2024 crash that killed 49-year-old Reynaldo Collado and injured four others, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney.
The crash happened at about 10:30 p.m. Sept. 22, 2024, as Pantaleon drove a 2014 Honda Civic westbound on the Southern State Parkway in North Babylon, prosecutors said. Data from the vehicle showed he was traveling at approximately 121 mph.
Prosecutors said Pantaleon cut off other vehicles and weaved between lanes before slamming into the rear of a 2009 Honda CR-V driven by Collado. Both vehicles left the roadway and crashed into wooded areas alongside the parkway.
Collado was pronounced dead at the scene. One passenger in his vehicle suffered serious injuries, including fractures to the vertebra and pelvis, while three other occupants were treated at local hospitals for various injuries.
Investigators later determined Pantaleon had used his cellphone to record himself driving recklessly shortly before the crash, prosecutors said.
“Driving at 121 mph is not a mistake. It is a deliberate choice,” Tierney said. “This defendant made that choice, which resulted in the tragic death of 49-year-old Reynaldo Collado and injuries to four others. Today, he is being held accountable for that deadly decision.”
Pantaleon pleaded guilty Sept. 4 before Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, three counts of third-degree assault and reckless driving.
Pilewski sentenced Pantaleon on Oct. 23 to four to 12 years in prison and ordered his driver’s license revoked.
Photo: Felix Pantaleon, 24, of Lindenhurst, was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for a 121 mph crash that killed Reynaldo Collado of West Babylon in September 2024. (SCDA)
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