Vlad Pascu sentenced to 10 years in prison for 2 Mai crash, not final
Vlad Pascu, the perpetrator of the May 2 accident that killed two young people, was sentenced on Friday, January 31, by the Mangalia Court to ten years in prison. The court’s decision, which is not final, was announced almost a year after the first trial.
“Based on art. 39 paragraph 1 letter b) of the Criminal Code reported to art. 38 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, applies to the defendant Pascu Matei – Vlad, with the above data, the most severe punishment, of 7 (seven) years in prison, to which is added an increase of 3 (three) years in prison, representing one third of the other sentences applied for the concurrent offenses, and orders that the defendant Pascu Matei – Vlad finally execute a resulting sentence of 10 (ten) years in prison”, is the decision of the Mangalia Court.
On August 19, 2023, Vlad Pascu was driving a car on DN 39, and at around 5.25 am, near 2 Mai, he entered a group of pedestrians. Following the impact, two young people lost their lives and three others were injured.
Vlad Pascu fled from the scene of the accident and was then found by police in Vama Veche. Investigators determined that he was under the influence of several prohibited substances, including cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine.
On August 20, he was caught and has been in pretrial detention since then.
In October 2023, Vlad Pascu was sent to trial for manslaughter, negligent bodily harm, leaving the scene of an accident and driving a vehicle under the influence of psychoactive substances.
On January 17, when the last term in the trial took place, prosecutors requested the “maximum possible sentence”, of 10 years, six months and 20 days for Vlad Pascu, said the lawyer of some of the victims, Adrian Cuculis.
“Our conclusions were to apply a maximum sentence, namely the one that the law currently allows, which is ten years, six months and 20 days, with the application, of course, of the compensation that we, the civil parties, requested. And certainly not least, the Prosecutor’s Office supported exactly the same thing, the orientation towards the maximum sentence, which means, if the court takes it into account, a maximum of 10 years, 6 months and 20 days. The court will determine the compensation based on the requests. We requested it as we requested it in all the files, at the maximum from the RCA grid, respectively from the law, and the court will weigh this matter based on the statements that the parties gave”, the lawyer explained.
At the same time, Vlad Pascu’s defense attorney, lawyer Adrian Bendeac, spoke about the memorandum submitted to the file by his client. “He expressed his last word in writing because he also has emotions, he is also haunted, of course, by regrets. In order not to lose the flow of his ideas, he said that it was much better and wiser to put them on paper. He wrote them in pen and I submitted them as written notes to the file. They can be consulted, of course, by all the parties involved”, the lawyer stated.
One of the victim’s father discontent
Valentin Olariu, the father of Sebastian, one of the young men killed in the accident caused by Vlad Pascu, declares himself deeply disappointed by the court’s decision, which sentenced the driver to 10 years in prison. He claims that the sentence is too light and that he will fight to change the legal classification at the Court of Appeal. “If this classification does not change, other drug addicts will get behind the wheel and kill our children”.
Valentin Olariu, the father of Sebastian, one of the young people who died in the accident, declared live on Digi24 that he feels “broken, devastated by everything that is happening.”
Asked if he believes that the justice system has done its job, Valentin Olariu replied firmly: “No, not at all. If the justice system had done its job, he would have been charged with aggravated murder. He killed two children, injured three others, and I think it is a much too light sentence. I hope that at the Court of Appeal we will succeed in changing the classification and that Vlad Pascu will receive a harsher sentence.“
He drew attention to a dangerous precedent. “If this classification does not change, other drug addicts will get behind the wheel, knowing that they will receive small sentences, and they will kill our children.”
Regarding the support received from the Romanian authorities, Sebastian’s father said that “the justice system made fun of” them. “We did not receive even 1% support. No phone calls, no support. It was a long process, with a lot of mockery against us. After we were with our hearts broken, the justice system also mocked us.”
Valentin Olariu says he will continue to fight. “We are moving forward. I swore to my child, before I put him in the grave, that I would do everything possible for Vlad Pascu to receive the punishment he deserves. I don’t wish anyone to go through what we are going through now. It is very difficult.”
For manslaughter, the maximum sentence is 7 years. Vlad Pascu received this sentence, to which was added a three-year increase for the other crimes committed: bodily harm, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence of drugs.
For instance, in Iași, a driver who ran a red light and killed two people, without being under the influence of drugs, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It was the first time that a court in Romania decided that such a case could be classified as qualified murder and applied the maximum sentence.
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