Kervens Boutin sentenced in Southern Parkway crash that killed two passengers

Kervens Boutin was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, in Mineola to 2 to 6 years in prison in a fatal 2013 crash on the Southern State Parkway that killed two of his passengers. Credit: Howard Schnapp
From a wheelchair, a former Roosevelt school aide apologized for his actions Friday before a judge sent him to prison for causing the 2013 parkway crash that killed two of his passengers, injured two more and left him a double amputee.
“I know your injuries will serve as a daily constant reminder of that one stupid thing, that stupid decision on Jan. 27, 2013,” acting State Supreme Court Justice Patricia Harrington told Kervens Boutin, who lost his legs in the wreck.
She sentenced Boutin, 33, of West Hempstead, to 2 to 6 years in prison following his 2014 guilty plea to aggravated vehicular homicide, assault and driving while drunk and high on marijuana.
Prosecutors said Boutin was speeding home from a party at about 99 mph on the Southern State Parkway with four passengers in his 2008 Nissan Maxima when he lost control and crashed into trees near a North Merrick exit.
Authorities said the wreck killed Bryan Rivas, 20, of Hempstead, and Blossom Castro, 22, who also lived in Hempstead, and, according to Boutin’s attorney, was the defendant’s cousin.
The crash also seriously injured Antonio Rivas, then 22, of Hempstead, whose right leg was amputated, and left Marlo Cabrera, then 19, of the Bronx, with internal injuries, according to authorities.
Assistant District Attorney Steven Henesy appealed Friday for a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison, saying “the facts and circumstances of the case are horrific.”
Boutin had a blood alcohol content of 0.31 after the crash, according to prosecutors.
Henesy argued Boutin also faces charges in a 2015 domestic violence case in Brooklyn that should have nullified former Nassau County Judge Tammy Robbins’ original sentencing commitment of no more than 2 to 6 years in prison.
But defense attorney Aida Leisenring said Boutin, who has two daughters and had been a respected school aide at Roosevelt High School, felt “immeasurable grief on a daily basis.” She said her client’s attorney for the 2015 misdemeanor case told her none of the allegations had been corroborated and authorities would likely dismiss it.
The Garden City lawyer also said Boutin, who now uses prosthetic devices, was “humbled and grateful” that the families of the crash victims and surviving passengers “are doing their best to forgive” and supported leniency in sentencing.
The proceeding came more than a year after Boutin’s guilty plea, when Robbins said she would delay his incarceration so he could undergo surgeries.
When asked Friday if he wanted to speak in court, Boutin told Harrington: “Just, I’m sorry.”
In then meting out the sentence, Harrington said in part: “I do feel that somebody has to speak for the victims . . . and that’s what I’m doing today.”
Boutin again expressed his remorse as court officers led him away in handcuffs.
“I know he wants to make it his life’s mission to use his experience as an example to others, especially young kids,” his lawyer said.
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