‘Is this justice? Of course not,’ husband of pregnant woman says at sentencing of drugged driver who killed her – NJ.com

A Belleville man who admitted to being on heroin before he crashed into and killed a pregnant woman took a plea deal that calls for him to spend 10 years in prison, a deal that a judge made official Friday in Superior Court in Essex County.

Anthony V. Casale Jr. was sentenced to seven years for vehicular homicide and a consecutive three-year term for assault by auto for the death of Megan Villanella, of Verona.

Casale Jr. was driving his mother’s car on March 3, 2017, when he hit Villanella and her brother, Derek Longo, who were standing on a sidewalk in Verona waiting for a bus to take them into New York City, where they both worked.

Not knowing his sister had been killed at the time, Longo woke up in a hospital with an assortment of internal injuries, broken bones, scrapes and a concussion.

“We got out of the car that morning and the last thing I remember is turning around and looking for Megan to come. I will be looking back, for Megan, to come, forever,” Longo said in court Friday, before Essex County Judge Michael L. Ravin.

Longo said 10 years for Casale was not enough, and railed against a “broken justice system.”

“Facing the possibility of this man walking free, a man who destroyed the future we envision and worked hard to obtain or sitting in a cell, I take the cell,” Longo said.

Villanella’s mother, Connie Longo, agreed with her son as for reasons why the family agreed with Essex County prosecutors decision to make the plea deal instead of taking the case to trial.

Since Casale was arrested at the scene of the accident, Villanella’s family has attended every court appearance.

During the course of the case, Casale initially pleaded not guilty and disputed police reports that he was nodding off at the scene. Police also reported finding Casale at the scene with glassy eyes and a dried white substance on his lips.

Casale’s lawyer, David Bruno, said his client was praying at the crash scene.

“Or was he praying for himself so he could live another day to take heroin again and continue his self-absorbed life?,” Connie Longo asked in court. ”At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter why he was praying. My daughter and granddaughter are gone and we will not see our daughter again or get to meet and hold our granddaughter.”

Connie Longo also read a statement for Villanella’s unborn child, who they named Adaline Grace Villanella.

She would have been James and Megan Villanella’s second child.

In court, James Villanella talked about his wife, their nearly 10-year marriage and the relentless journey the two took to conceive their first child.

“Is this justice? Of course not.,” he said.

“My wife and daughter are gone forever and the defendant will be free before his 40th birthday. Nothing is going to bring back Isabelle’s mother and the sister she never met,” James Villanella in court.

“While I supported Megan as she injected herself with good faith to create life, the defendant’s family enabled him as he injected heroin to ultimately destroy life,” James Villanella said.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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