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A man who was accused of causing a fatal high-speed crash on Long Island nearly 20 years ago has been extradited from India and is currently in custody in New York.
Ganesh Shenoy, 54, fled to Mumbai just two weeks after a fatal 2005 car crash that killed 44-year-old Philip Mastropolo.
Shenoy was finally returned to the US after a years-long international legal battle.
He was arraigned on second-degree manslaughter charges on Friday and ordered held without bail, prosecutors said.
Mastropolo, a maintenance engineer and family man, was T-boned and killed just minutes from his Hicksville home on April 11, 2005.
‘He thought he got away with it, but not anymore,’ Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
‘Ganesh Shenoy will be held responsible for his alleged actions, and my office will get justice for Philip and his family.’
Shenoy is charged with second-degree manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces between five and 15 years in prison.
Fifty-four-year-old Ganesh Shenoy fled to Mumbai two weeks following a 2005 car crash that resulted in the death of 44-year-old Philip Mastropolo. After an extensive international legal proceeding, Shenoy has been brought back to the United States.
Shenoy allegedly ran a red light in Hicksville, Long Island, colliding with a Cadillac driven by Mastropolo, who was on his way to work at the time.
Philip Mastropolo was 44 years old when Ganesh Shenoy slammed into his car and killed him in April 2005
The crash happened shortly after 6am at the intersection of Old Country Road and Levittown Parkway.
At the time of the incident, Shenoy was a 33-year-old student at SUNY Old Westbury and reportedly driving a 1993 Volvo at double the speed limit. He ran a continuous red light and crashed into Mastropolo’s vehicle.
The force of the collision was so powerful it propelled Mastropolo’s car 65 feet into the front of a Freightliner box truck, according to DA Donnelly. Mastropolo was declared dead at the scene.
Surveillance videos and eyewitness reports verified that Shenoy had indeed run the red light. Although he initially claimed he had a green light, the falsehood was quickly revealed.
He was taken to a nearby hospital for minor injuries but refused treatment.
Despite police seizing both his New York driver’s license and Indian passport, Shenoy boarded a flight out of JFK Airport just 14 days later and on April 25, 2005 vanished into India leaving behind a grieving family and a host of unanswered questions.
‘He wanted a quick getaway,’ Donnelly said. ‘And in the days that followed, it became clear why.’
An indictment was handed down on August 8, 2005, and both an arrest warrant and Interpol Red Notice were issued.
Mastropolo, a maintenance engineer and family man, was T-boned in his car and killed just minutes from his Hicksville home on April 11, 2005
Shenoy, then a 33-year-old student at SUNY Old Westbury, was allegedly driving a 1993 Volvo at twice the speed limit when he ran a steady red light and slammed into Mastropolo’s Cadillac
Surveillance footage and witness accounts confirmed that Shenoy, Volvo, pictured, had run a red light. Initially, he claimed he had the green light but his lie quickly unraveled
But for the next 18 years, Shenoy fought extradition in Indian courts, living freely in Mumbai, beyond the reach of US law enforcement.
Meanwhile, the Mastropolo family, a widow and two children, spent nearly two decades in emotional limbo.
‘His family deserved more time with the man they loved,’ Donnelly said. ‘Instead, they have lived with the pain of his loss for the last 20 years.’
On Friday, Mastropolo’s now-adult children watched their father’s alleged killer finally face justice on American soil.
‘They were elated,’ said Assistant District Attorney Michael Bushwack. ‘And the defendant was expressionless.
‘The first thing the family said was, “We never thought this day would come,”‘ Donnelly added.
‘Philip Mastropolo was a great husband and father whose life was taken too soon under circumstances that we still believe deserve answers, accountability, and closure.
‘We’re hopeful that justice may finally be within reach after 20 years. We ask for privacy and respect as we navigate this emotional time,’ the Mastropolo family said in a statement.
‘He thought he got away with it, but not anymore,’ Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said
The crash happened just after 6am at the intersection of Old Country Road and Levittown Parkway
Shenoy’s extradition required extensive international cooperation and is the first from India to the United States since 2017.
India rarely grants extradition requests, and the process can take decades even with diplomatic pressure.
DA Donnelly credited the US Department of Justice, the US Marshals Service, the US Embassy in New Delhi and the Office of International Affairs for bringing Shenoy home to face trial.
‘After decades of evading law enforcement and dodging prosecution, my office finally returned this defendant to the United States,’ Donnelly said.
‘Prosecutors in this office never give up on a case, because justice, no matter how long it takes, is always worth fighting for. We got him,’ she said. ‘And he’s not getting away from us again.
‘Let this be a message to anyone who thinks they can commit a crime and vanish,’ Donnelly added. ‘We don’t stop. We don’t forget. And we don’t give up.’
