Guilty Plea in Boat Crash That Killed West Islip Man

A Dix Hills man charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in a drunken boating collision that took the life of West Islip resident Christopher Mannino pleaded guilty Monday in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead.

Brian Andreski, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter in the second degree and one count of criminal tax fraud before Judge James Hudson, Suffolk County District Attorney Spokesperson Robert Clifford said.

Andreski faces up to 12 years in prison, and will appear in a video discussing his drunk boating charge, to be used in future boating safety courses.

Andreski was charged with operating a vessel while intoxicated [BWI], a misdemeanor immediately following the fatal crash on June 23.

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Mannino, 39, was one of five people aboard a 38-foot fishing boat on its way to a Mako Shark fishing tournament when Andreski’s 25-foot speedboat slammed into the vessel near a stanchion under the Robert Moses Causeway around 4:50 a.m. 

Mannino was thrown from the boat and his body was found by divers about nine hours later, officials said. No one else on the fishing boat was hurt. Andreski and a passenger on the speedboat suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Andreski is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on Thursday, Jan. 10.