The owner of the son of Prestige Limo faces a criminal charge

Nauman Hussain, 28, of Gansevoort, NY, ran Prestige Limo in the Albany area. He was arrested earlier Wednesday on Interstate 787 near Albany, detained and charged with class E crime, state police said. The only account includes the 20 deaths.

The arrest comes as the 2001 Ford Excursion crashed in the rural town of Schoharie after the vehicle failed the inspection twice this year, including last month. Hussain's father, Shahed Hussain, owned the limousine service, but was in Pakistan at the time of the accident.

"Nauman Hussain is solely responsible for driving this vehicle Saturday on the road," said Superintendent George Beach of the New York State Police.

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The crime is punishable by a maximum sentence of four years imprisonment. Nauman Hussain pleaded not guilty and was brought before a court in the city of Cobleskill, about fifteen kilometers from the scene of the accident. He was released on bail of $ 150,000.

"My client is not guilty, the police have launched a lawsuit," said Lee Kindlon, Nauman Hussain's lawyer.

Nauman Hussain, 28, of Gansevoort, NY, was running Prestige Limo in the Saratoga area and was charged with homicide by criminal negligence in the crash of a limousine that was killed 20 people. (Photo: New York State Police)

"I knew that day was coming, I knew they were going to be criminally charged, because someone had to point a finger," he said.

State police announced Monday that the accident, the country's worst in nine years, was the subject of a criminal investigation, while questions about the state of the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine attracted a lot of interest.

State police confirmed Wednesday that a police officer had arrested the limousine driver, Scott Lisinicchia, in Saratoga Springs in late August, after driving 11 people in the same vehicle. Lisinicchia has been cited for its exploitation without an appropriate license.

State police said the soldier informed the driver and the company that Lisinicchia could not drive the vehicle without an additional license.

"The soldier also took steps to ensure that the vehicle had gone out of the way, returned to its original location and ordered the driver not to drive the vehicle," police said. of the state.

But the police said the soldier did not have the legal authority to grab the plates or the vehicle during this stop.

The limousine failed two state inspections in March and again in September, officials said the state's Department of Transportation.

After the inspection failure of September 4, the state affixed a sticker putting the vehicle out of service, the department said.

But Lisinicchia was still driving when the accident occurred on a country road in Schoharie that cost him his life, as well as 17 passengers and two passers-by on the parking lot of a shop. campaign.

Shahed Hussain, the company's owner, was once an FBI undercover informant.

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According to the New York State Code of Criminal Procedure, a charge of criminal negligent homicide accuses a person of "reprehensible conduct so serious that it creates or contributes to a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the death of another nobody happens. "

The crime is punishable by up to four years in prison if convicted, but sentencing guidelines allow for lighter sentences, including probation.