• 2025-09-10 17:40:44
• Gun Violence

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Long Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to up to 22 years in prison for driving drunk in Garden City and crashing his vehicle into a tree, killing his passenger, Marco Zuniga, earlier this year, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly's office said.

Christhian Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty on June 17 to first-degree vehicular manslaughter, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, all felonies, the DA said.

He additionally pleaded to false personation, and circumvention of an interlock device, both misdemeanors, the DA said.

His attorney, Robert Schalk of Mineola, told Patch he took "full responsibility for his actions and apologized to the family of the victim."

"He took his plea very early on to avoid the pain of a trial for either family. He also did so and avoided an upgrade to the charges, which could have led to a more severe jail sentence," Schalk added.

Donnelly said that Marco Zuniga was known among his family "as a loving, kind soul."

"He was a friend to everyone and always willing to help others, but his life was tragically cut short by Christhian Galeano's reckless decisions to drive under the influence of alcohol," she said. "Galeano is a recidivist offender whose actions have devastated a family and stolen a loved one."

"It is my hope that today's outcome provides Marco's family with a measure of justice as they continue to mourn his unfathomable loss, and that Galeano's sentence marks the end of his dangerous and destructive pattern of drunk driving," she added.

Donnelly said that on Feb. 9, at around 4:47 a.m., Velasquez Galeano was driving a Nissan Maxima while intoxicated, and as it was traveling eastbound on Stewart Avenue, and drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic where it crashed into a tree on the westbound shoulder of the road, causing significant damage to the rear driver's side of the vehicle.

Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger got out of the vehicle and fled on foot north on Nassau Boulevard, she said.

Marco Zuniga, 27, was slumped over in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle and unresponsive, according to Donnelly.

Garden City Police Department officers tracked two sets of footprints in the snow until they stopped in front of a location on Nassau Boulevard and found Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger hiding in the bushes, she said.

Velasquez Galeano had blood on his hands and showed signs of intoxication, Donnelly said, adding that he was taken to Nassau University Medical Center to be treated for his injuries.

The front seat passenger was also taken to the center with a neck injury, she said.

Zuniga was taken to NYU Langone Long Island Hospital in Mineola where he died just before 6 a.m., according to Donnelly.

During the investigation, police found two closed beer bottles in the back seat of the vehicle, Donnelly said.

A court-ordered blood test revealed that Velasquez Galeano had a .11% blood alcohol concentration four hours after the crash, she added.