Nauman Hussain, 33, was convicted of manslaughter earlier this month after prosecutors argued that he intentionally failed to properly maintain an SUV-style stretch limo, which then failed to brake on a downhill stretch of road in Schoharie, a village west of Albany.
Some people who lost loved ones in the crash spoke directly to Hussain in court before the judge announced the sentence. Prosecutors presented evidence at the trial that the limo had been allowed to deteriorate, and that Hussain's rental company had taken steps to keep it on the road, despite a failed inspection that should have taken it out of service.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators previously concluded that the rental company also avoided inspection rules for oversized vehicles by filing false information about the SUV's seating capacity.