FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Raymond Worrall

PHONE: (201) 320-3550

EMAIL:  rworrall@hcpo.org

DATE: Monday, September 11, 2023

DRIVER IN JERSEY CITY FATAL CRASH SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN STATE PRISON

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Friday, September 8, 2023, the Honorable John A. Young, Jr., J.S.C. sentenced Jose Colon, age 33, of Jersey City, to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison for the death of 30-year-old Jesus Gonzalez.

Colon pleaded guilty to first-degree death by auto for driving while intoxicated within 1,000 feet of school property in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5b(3)(a) on April 19, 2023. The sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act and includes a consecutive 10-year driver’s license suspension.

On February 28, 2021, at approximately 3:30 a.m., Colon was driving a 1996 Honda Civic on Christopher Columbus Drive near the Merseles Street in Jersey City at a high rate of speed when his vehicle struck the Attenuator-protected guard rail. His passenger, later identified as Jersey City resident Jesus Gonzalez, was found in a lifeless condition at the scene. The single-vehicle crash occurred within 1,000 feet of James J. Ferris High School.

The Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit, with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department, investigated the case. The state was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Andrew Baginski from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit.