The family of a man who lost his life to a reckless driver who escaped to India over 20 years ago shared their heart-wrenching story of how his absence has profoundly impacted their lives.
Krystina Morrone, daughter of the late Philip Mastropolo—tragically killed in a horrific car accident in 2005 by Ganesh Shenoy, now 54—faced her father’s killer in court for the first time in more than two decades. This encounter took place on Friday before Shenoy received a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
“You took my hero from me, the one person I looked up to,” Morrone expressed with emotion as she addressed Shenoy, who appeared smiling as he entered Nassau County court for his sentencing. Her poignant victim impact statement highlighted the enduring pain her family has endured.
“I had to graduate high school without him, get married without him, and have two children who will never know their grandfather,” she continued, her words filled with sorrow.
Morrone also mentioned that her brother is currently battling leukemia, a struggle he must face without the support and presence of their father.
Shenoy, who was extradited from India last September, pleaded guilty last month to charges of manslaughter. He had run a red light at twice the speed limit, colliding with Mastropolo’s car, then 44, in 2005.
Shenoy, who was no longer smiling after hearing Morrone’s tearful testimony, only offered a half-sincere apology.
âSorry to the family,â he said, offering no other words before he was handed up to a decade in prison on Friday, where he will serve at least three years and four months.
On April 11, 2005, Shenoy blew through a red light and smashed into Mastropolo â who was on his way to work â so violently that his car was sent skidding 65 feet into the opposite intersection.
After the deadly crash in 2005, Shenoy was taken to a hospital for treatment but refused medical attention and left without being held criminally liable at the time.
Though his passport had been seized, he got on a plane from JFK to India just 14 days after he killed Mastropolo on April 25.
Shenoy didnât return to the U.S. until he was extradited back to the country to face charges in September of last year.
He was officially indicted in August of 2005, four months after fleeing the country, and Nassau County has been trying to get him back ever since, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly explained.
âFor two decades, Philip Mastropoloâs wife and children have carried the weight of his loss and the burden of knowing this cowardly defendant hid half a world away,â Donnelly told reporters after court.
âThey waited for accountability and for the day when Ganesh Shenoy was finally brought to justice. Today was that day,â Donnelly added.
âWhen this defendant fled to India in the aftermath of the destruction he caused, he tried to outrun the law and responsibility. But justice does not have borders or an expiration date, and last year he was brought back to answer to the charges he had evaded so long. Now, a jail cell awaits him.â
