DDN – A Sussex County man who accepted to driving drunk when his pickup crashed with an SUV, killing a teenage driver days before graduation, was sentenced to six months in jail, authorities said Monday.
Brian Weiss, 45, of Wantage, was sentenced on December 13, 2024, after pleading guilty to third-degree strict liability vehicular murder in the incident that killed Jonathan Fett, 18, also of Wantage, according to the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors alleged Weiss had a blood alcohol concentration of 14% when his SUV crashed with Fett’s on June 13, 2021. The legal limit for driving in New Jersey is 08%.
Fett was driving west on Route 650 in Wantage to meet a buddy whose car had broken down in Montague when Weiss, traveling north on Route 519, collided with the driver’s side of Fett’s vehicle around 1:30 a.m.
According to NorthJersey.com, investigators believed Fett’s failure to stop at a stop sign contributed to the incident.
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The state’s strict liability vehicular homicide legislation holds drivers legally liable if they are under the influence and involved in a fatal collision, regardless of whether they were irresponsible.
According to court documents, Weiss pleaded guilty to the criminal charge, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol and exceeding the 40-mph speed limit by 14 mph.
In addition to incarceration, Weiss was forced to pay almost $1,700 in fines, conduct 30 days of community service, participate in New Jersey’s Intoxicated Driver Program, and have an interlock ignition device installed in his vehicle for five years, according to court records.
Fett, who was born in Hackensack, had lived in Wantage his entire life and was a senior at Sussex County Technical School, where he was set to graduate the week of the disaster.
Fett, the oldest of four children, aspired to join the United States Marine Corps after high school, according to his family.
Reference: Man sentenced to 6 months in jail after DWI crash killed N.J. teen days before graduation
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