Selden man sentenced in teens' deaths

A Selden man was sentenced Wednesday to 61/3 to 9 years in prison -- 5 years more than the original plea deal -- for a 2010 car crash that claimed two teenagers' lives.

Judge James F.X. Doyle noted that David Heise, 29, continued to get arrested on drug charges even after pleading guilty in May, leading to the higher sentence.

Before his sentencing in Suffolk County Court, Heise told the teens' parents he was sorry for running a red light and plowing into their car.

The parents didn't buy it.

Doyle's sentence exceeded the plea bargain because authorities say Heise was caught in possession of heroin while out on bail, and then tried to smuggle a balloonful of drugs in his body when jailed.

Heise ran a red light on Veterans Highway in Ronkonkoma in April 2010 and killed Eugene Franjola, 17, of Oakdale, and Stephen Massina, 16, of Sayville.

Four months after the crash, while free on bail, he was arrested while carrying 53 Valium pills and 100 bags of heroin. He pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and various drug charges.

"I should have known not to be behind the wheel. . . . I have made serious mistakes and destroyed lives," said Heise, who was driving without a license that night because it had been revoked for repeated speeding violations.

Margaret Massina, Stephen's mother, said afterward that she felt Heise was insincere.

That feeling may have been amplified by Heise's mother, Virginia Heise, who brandished Franjola's autopsy report indicating he had small amounts of Xanax and marijuana in his system.

"It's a disgrace as a mother to say that," said Franjola's mother, Barbara Franjola. "We're not in court today about my son's toxicology report."

District Attorney Thomas Spota said Heise alone was to blame for the crash and that a 4-month investigation found no evidence that Franjola, who was driving the car, "contributed to or could have avoided the broadside impact of Heise's speeding pickup truck."

In court, Massina's father, also named Stephen, addressed Heise: "I believe the victims in this case forgive you because they are angels in heaven. You don't just owe us an apology. You owe society an apology."

"The pain we feel is immeasurable," said Margaret Massina. "It's a pain you wake up with in the morning, and it's a pain you go to sleep with at night. . . . I want you to remember, Mr. Heise, that our sentence is forever."

She returned to her seat and sobbed.