Guilty pleas in teen's DUI death
Lesko family admits liability in emotional hearing
Friday, July 3, 2009
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NORTHAMPTON - Almost two years ago, a car accident killed a Florence teen and irrevocably changed the lives of two families.
Thursday, one family took formal responsibility for allowing David Holman, 19, of Pine Street, to drink alcohol at their house on before he drove away and crashed into a tree.
In an emotional hearing in Hampshire Superior Court, Edgar, Deborah and Andrew Lesko all pleaded guilty to four counts of furnishing alcohol to a person under 21. Andrew Lesko, who was 19 at the time, also pleaded guilty to a charge of procuring alcohol as a minor.
Though she accepted their guilty pleas, Judge Bertha Josephson postponed sentencing to Aug. 4, saying she needed more time to review the case.
"There are too many considerations on both sides of what I'm being asked to do" to make an immediate decision, Josephson said.
Edgar Lesko, 53, a captain and 25-year member of the Northampton Fire Department, retired soon after the charges were filed last year.
"Through those years he must have seen the damage that can be done through underage drinking," said prosecutor Melissa Doran. "He knew better and he should have acted differently."
At the time of Holman's death, Edgar Lesko was struggling with undiagnosed bipolar disorder and "in the throes of a full-blown manic episode," according to his defense attorney, Charles Maguire.
Doran said initially she was inclined to recommend that Edgar Lesko serve time in jail, but changed her mind on learning of his mental illness. Both she and Maguire urged the judge to place Edgar Lesko on three years' probation in place of a suspended one-year jail sentence.
Holman's parents both said Edgar Lesko should go to jail, saying he had committed an inexcusable lapse as a parent and as a firefighter.
"The people we had known and trusted as parents had broken that trust by providing a safe haven for kids to drink alcohol in their home," said Jeff Holman.
David's death has "destroyed" the family, and he his wife, Tina, are going through a divorce, Jeff Holman said.
Tina Holman said she mourned for the adulthood her son had just barely begun. A student at Southern New Hampshire University, he'd completed one year as a hotel management major.
"My hopes and dreams for the future were starting to come true," Tina Holman said tearfully.
Attorneys for Deborah Lesko, 52, and Andrew Lesko, 21, both recommended their clients' cases be continued without a finding. Andrew Lesko's defense attorney, Robert Murphy, said a conviction would jeopardize his college scholarship and deprive him of his driver's license for five years.
Fateful night
David Holman died about 2 a.m. July 29, 2007. He was driving on Ryan Road just north of O'Donnell Drive when his brown Chrysler 300 sedan left the road and struck a tree. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, according to police.
A medical examination found his blood-alcohol content was .09 percent. The legal limit for an adult to drive in Massachusetts is .08 percent.
Police questioned one of Holman's friends, who had been following him in another car, and Andrew Lesko, who arrived after the crash. From them police learned of the party at the Leskos' 100 West Farms Road home. Holman, Andrew Lesko and three other 19-year-olds were drinking and playing cards in the basement throughout the evening, Doran said.
Edgar Lesko went in and out of the basement several times during the evening, Doran said, but did nothing to stop the teens from drinking. At one point he mixed himself and one of the teens a drink, Doran said.
Deborah Lesko was outside on a porch throughout the evening but was aware of the drinking going on inside, Doran said.
The night before the party, Doran said, Andrew Lesko had bought a 30-pack of beer and a bottle of rum from the Leeds Package Store. Witnesses said Holman brought beer to the party as well, according to a report by Detective Alan Borowski, the lead investigator in the case.
Immeasurable loss
Andrew Lesko and David Holman were "dear friends" who had known each other since the sixth grade, according to Murphy. Both graduated from Northampton High School in 2006.
"He feels this loss in more ways than I can measure," Murphy said.
On returning to Stonehill College in Easton the fall after Holman's death, Murphy said, Andrew Lesko volunteered with law enforcement conducting "sting" operations targeting underage alcohol sales.
Murphy recommended that a condition of Andrew Lesko's probation be to speak to high school students about the dangers of underage drinking. A former captain of the Northampton High football team, Andrew Lesko has already arranged to talk with current members of the squad, Murphy said.
Several relatives and friends of both families, as well as some of the Northampton Police officers who worked on the case, attended Thursday's hearing. After court adjourned and everyone started filing out, Andrew Lesko stopped to hug and shake hands with Holman's parents and older brother, Brett.
Mental strain
According to court papers filed by Maguire, Edgar Lesko began experiencing debilitating depression and paranoid delusions in 2005. In February 2006, he suffered a nervous breakdown while responding to a fire call at the Cahill Apartments on Fruit Street. He was relieved of duty and spent the next four months on medical leave.
"After months of hell, Edgar virtually willed himself back to the job that he loved so much," Maguire wrote.
He retired in 2008, after suffering another nervous collapse and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to Maguire.
Northampton Fire Chief Brian Duggan could not be reached for comment Thursday, but said in a previous interview: "It certainly is a tragedy on all sides ... The department certainly feels very strongly about underage drinking and driving. We are the first responders."
James F. Lowe can be reached at jlowe@gazettenet.com.
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