Guilty Plea in a Fatality

A Hampton Bays woman charged with drunken driving after her passenger died in an early morning single-car crash in Southampton Village on April 19 pleaded guilty on Nov. 21 to vehicular manslaughter, a felony.

Allison J. Rydberg, 26, admitted that her blood-alcohol level was well over twice the legal limit at the time of the accident, and that she had been driving at an excessive speed.

Tad Scharfenberg, her attorney, said last week that she would be sentenced on Feb. 19 in the Central Islip courtroom of Justice Fernando Camacho to an agreed-upon two and a third to seven years in state prison. “It’s a tragic situation,” Mr. Scharfenberg said.

Ms. Rydberg was driving a 1997 Toyota Avalon on Flying Point Road at about 3 a.m. when the crash occurred. Her passenger, 24-year-old Jason H. Pollak of Water Mill, a popular competitive surfer, was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Another case before Justice Camacho, coincidentally also involving an April 19 arrest, may soon be headed to trial. David Osiecki of Sagaponack, 64, has been in county jail in lieu of $250,000 cash bail since his arrest. He is charged with arson, a felony, for allegedly setting fire to a Dune Road house early that morning.

Following his initial appearance in Southampton Town Justice Court, two teams of doctors found Mr. Osiecki mentally unfit to stand trial. However, he was not indicted for many months, during which time he could not, under state law, receive psychiatric treatment or evaluation. Finally, on Oct. 2, a grand jury indicted him, and he was brought before Justice Camacho on Oct. 10 to be arraigned. Justice Camacho ordered a new round of psychiatric testing, and on Nov. 13 the court was told that Mr. Osiecki was now competent to stand trial.