The man accused of the Labor Day 2016 hit-and-run boating accident on Greenwood Lake that injured four people – one of whom later died – has accepted a plea deal just as his trial was about to start.
Shawn J. Kelly, 50, pleaded guilty Friday in Passaic County Superior Court to leaving the scene of a boating accident resulting in serious bodily injury. He faces up to three years in prison when he is sentenced on March 19.
The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to drop the more serious charge of death by vessel in exchange for the guilty plea.
Kelly faced up to 10 years in prison had he been convicted of causing the death of Edwin Lane, the West Milford boater who was seriously injured in the collision and died a month later.
To avoid trial, Kelly accepted a plea deal at the last minute that resolved a case that has been crawling through the legal system for more than eight years.
Arrested two years after the accident, the prosecution built its case against Kelly based on reconstruction of the accident and the cause of death.
Both prongs of the state’s case relied on forensics and testimony from expert witnesses, which was challenged by the defense in a blizzard of motions that took years to resolve.
The jury had been selected and the trial about to begin when Kelly accepted the state’s offer. Superior Court Judge Justine A. Niccollai accepted the plea after making sure Kelly understood the terms.
“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” the judge asked, according to an audio transcript of the hearing.
“Yes,” Kelly answered.
The guilty plea ended a case that began on the evening of Sept. 5, 2016, more than eight years ago. Edwin Lane, 72, of West Milford, climbed aboard his 18-foot Bayliner with his wife, Mary, and two friends, Robert and Eileen Roon.
After stopping for dinner at a restaurant on Greenwood Lake, the Bayliner was struck while skipping across the water by a 20-foot Wellcraft piloted by Kelly, the prosecution says."
Kelly’s boat went airborne and then he left the scene, leaving an unconscious Edwin Lane and his three injured passengers to fend for themselves, the prosecution contends.
Edwin Lane and Robert Roon were both hospitalized that night; their wives were treated and released. Lane died a month later, and the prosecution maintained the West Milford man died from the injuries he sustained in the accident.
Defense attorney Patrick Jennings was expected to challenge the cause of death at trial. The defense also filed numerous motions seeking to suppress forensic evidence gathered during the accident investigation, which took two years.
Kelly was arrested in August 2018 – nearly two years after the accident. It was later revealed in court that the NJ State Police had questioned Kelly only five days after the accident, after the owner of the Moosehead Marina told police that Kelly’s boat was docked there and taking on water.
Investigators took paint scrapings that allegedly matched Kelly’s boat.
Kelly, a former Paramus volunteer firefighter, remained free following his indictment and was subject to electronic monitoring.
Neither Jennings nor Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Kerrigan responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.
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