Lawyer who reviewed messages while driving gets parole after serving a year in hit-and-run case
Brought down by his lies about a hit-and-run accident that occurred while he was reading emails or texts while returning from a county bar association event, a New Jersey criminal defense attorney had his law license temporarily suspended and was sentenced to six years in prison after taking a plea on charges related to the June 2011 crash.
Now John G. Koufos has been paroled after serving a little over one year, the Star-Ledger reports.
He was originally charged with aggravated assault and obstruction of justice in the Toms River crash, which injured a 17-year-old pedestrian walking with friends on Route 35. However, those charges were dismissed when Koufos pleaded guilty in 2012 to witness tampering, leaving the scene of an accident with serious injuries and hindering his own apprehension, the Associated Press reported at the time.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “‘Rising Star’ in NJ Bar Charged in Hit-and-Run; Legal Assistant Initially Took the Blame for Crash”
Toms River Patch: “Six Years for Lawyer Who Misled Police in Hit-and-Run of Teen”
