Plainsboro Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Fatal Dey Road Crash

A Plainsboro man was sentenced to three years in prison Monday for causing a motor vehicle accident that led to the death of one of his passengers on Dey Road last March.

Rohit Maddineni, 26, was charged with aggravated manslaughter after the crash, which killed Pavan Gottumukala, 25, of Edison. 

Maddineni was sentenced after pleading guilty on Nov. 16, 2012, to a count of vehicular homicide. Once he is released from custody, Maddineni will be placed on parole for three years, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

South Brunswick Police said Maddineni, Gottumukala, and a 25-year-old female were out celebrating Gottumukala's birthday on the evening of March 31, 2012.

Authorities said Maddineni had been drinking before he drove Gottumukala and the 25-year-old female back towards Plainsboro at about 3:40 a.m. Maddineni then lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a utility pole along Dey Road, according to police.

Gottumukala, who was sitting in the backseat, was ejected from the car. He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead following the accident.

Maddineni and the unidentified female passenger were also transported to the hospital and received treatment for minor injuries. 

Maddineni initially agreed to plead guilty for a prison sentence of six years under a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher L. C. Kuberiet. But Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz reduced the term to three years today, the prosecutor's office said.