A Connecticut man was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for killing another man in a drunken wrong-way car crash.
Troy Bree, a 58-year-old Groton resident, will also be on probation for five years following his release, local CBS affiliate WFSB reported. If he violates the probation, he could be forced to serve five more years behind bars.
Bree pleaded guilty in November to second-degree manslaughter in the Oct. 9, 2024, death of Mark Palumbo Jr., a 47-year-old Madison resident.
Palumbo was driving south on I-95 when he collided head-on with Bree, who was driving north in the southbound lanes, according to state police. Bree’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit.
Bree initially told police he consumed three drinks before getting behind the wheel, but surveillance video from a bar in Essex showed him downing five beverages, investigators said.
Palumbo’s family attended Wednesday’s sentencing hearing and was outraged by the five-year term, according to local ABC affiliate WTNH.
“I will never forget the pain and sadness and pure devastation that followed those words from the state trooper that Mark Jr. was dead,” Palumbo’s sister, Michele Brotz, told the station.
