By MATT CHANDLER
The Buffalo Law Journal

A former Hamburg attorney was sentenced Wednesday to two and one-third to seven years in prison for his involvement in the death of a Hilbert college student last fall.

John Duffy, of Orchard Park, pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. He struck and killed 19-year-old Meghan Sorbera, of Burlington Flats, N.Y., as she returned to her off-campus apartment with friends after working at the Erie County Fairgrounds.

Five days later, police arrested Duffy and charged him in the teen's death.

In addition to having been disbarred, Duffy faced between two and one-third to seven years in prison at the sentencing. His original sentencing, scheduled for February, was postponed, in part, due to his ongoing health-related issues with Multiple Sclerosis.

Prior to Supreme Court Justice John Michalski handing down his sentence, he heard from both sides, with Peter and Susan Sorbera, along with their son Peter, asking him to impose the maximum sentence on the man who fatally struck the victim.

Speaking first, Peter Sorbera recalled getting the phone call in the middle of the night that in his words, no parent should ever have to receive.

Turning to face Duffy, Sorbera described in detail arriving at the hospital and learning that his daughter's injuries appeared to be insurmountable.

"I watched my daughter die right in front of me, never getting a chance to say goodbye and tell her I love her."

As he stood across the courtroom, Duffy appeared to cry as Sorbera described the bond that Meghan had with her family, in particular, her mother Susan, who also spoke.

"She was my life...my soul has been ripped apart," Sorbera said, choking up as he directed his final remarks to the bench.

"Anywhere else, other than New York, he would have gotten 20 years...I'm asking you, as a father, to give him the maximum sentence."

With supporters packing the courtroom, and more outside in the hall, many unable to get a seat inside, Meghan's brother Peter Sorbera read a prepared statement, calling Duffy a "selfish coward," for failing to stop after he struck his sister, or to turn him self in to the police in the days that followed.

Duffy's Hamburg attorney Dan Chiacchia said there were "several undisclosed facts that create a different scenario in the case." As he mad a plea for leniency, Chiacchia disputed media accounts that Duffy was intoxicated at the time of the accident, or that he had a woman in the car with him. He also referred several times to the role his client's medical condition may have played in the accident.

"Based somewhat on his M.S., he acted impulsively and irrationally once he realized the full extent of what had happened," Chiacchia told the judge. He called Duffy a good man and a good father and rhetorically asked, "Should a man be judged by one incident so outside of who he is?" He described Duffy as someone who was spiraling out of control in the days after the accident, at one point preparing to take his own life.

In a theme repeated throughout his argument, Chiacchia blamed much of his client's public image on distortions in the media, while saying his medical condition should be a factor in sentencing.

"If you sentence him to a lengthy prison term, you will be taking away a larger portion of his life," Chiacchia told the judge, adding, "He is not the monster the media has made him out to be."

Following a brief, emotional plea from Duffy's wife Tracey, the defendant addressed the court, as well as the Sorbera family, in a final, emotional plea. He talked of being ashamed at how he acted, calling his own conduct appalling.

"It was a cowardly decision to try and hide my involvement in this accident," he said. "But being scared and acting only to protect myself is no excuse."

Turning to the Sorbera family, he maintained not knowing he had struck their daughter saying "I was raised better than that by my family. When I search my soul for something to say, I realize there is nothing I can say to you."

Turning back to the bench, Duffy said he was prepared to accept his sentence, before making one last plea.

"I must ask and beg your honor for forgiveness and mercy and leniency."

Michalski, who appeared moved by much of the testimony from both sides, as well as the hundreds of letters written by supporters of Duffy and Sorbera, told Duffy he would have to be punished for his actions that night, before sentencing him to the two and one-third to seven year sentence.

Duffy was immediately handcuffed and led from the courtroom as his wife and supporters looked on.

Advised by their attorney not to comment on the sentencing, Peter Sorbera did stop outside the courtroom to offer his thanks to the community.

"Everyone here has been so wonderful, the police in Hamburg, the D.A.'s office, everyone has done everything they could," he said, with tears in his eyes. "There are no winners here."

 

Dissecting the sentence

As family, friends and supporters of Meghan Sorbera gathered outside the courthouse Wednesday, emotions were high and questions began to circulate about what the sentence handed down actually amounted to. Was it the maximum? How much time will John Duffy really serve? Will his medical condition give him a ticket to early release?

With State Supreme Court Justice John Michalski sentencing Duffy to a term of between two and one-third and seven years in prison, many were left wondering how much time the former lawyer would serve behind bars.

Herb Greenman is a senior partner with Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria LLP who practices in criminal cases. He said, contrary to a popular misconception, any time for good behavior (one-third of the maximum sentence under New York state law), would be taken off of the seven years, not the two and one-third end.

"Based on the sentence, he is supposed to serve at least two and one-third years," Greenman said. "Whether he is released at that point is up to the parole board, although technically he could be released early into a work release or some other program."

Any decision on work release would come from the New York state Department of Correctional Services. Spokesperson Linda Foglia said prisoners are eligible to apply for work release two years before their minimum sentence has been served, making Duffy eligible in just four months.

"We tend to continue the incarceration until we are able to get a sense of who the inmate is," Foglia said. "We are aware of public perception, and we don't want it to seem that the system has a revolving door, so we do have them serve some time."

Under state guidelines, Duffy in ineligible for the state Shock Incarceration program, making work release the most likely avenue toward early release. Foglia said regarding his medical condition, treatment is provided to all inmates based on their medical needs.

"I don't think that (Duffy's M.S.) would play into the consideration for work release," she said.

Some supporters of the Sorbera family questioned whether Duffy would serve his time in segregation, offering him an easier time in prison, based on his former status as an attorney.

"The Department of corrections will try to determine if he is in a zone of danger," Greenman said, "but in my experience, attorneys usually go into the general population, and they usually stay there."