Man admits guilt in deadly DUI case [The Frederick News-Post, Md.]

Oct. 18--A 25-year-old Frederick man pleaded guilty Thursday to vehicular manslaughter and other charges stemming from two separate arrests for drunken driving earlier this year.

Anthony James Cilluffo, of the 8000 block of Hollow Reed Court, pleaded guilty to seven charges in the two cases.

In December, he will be sentenced to three years in jail, according to the terms of a plea agreement.

Cilluffo was arrested in the early hours of May 2 after a Frederick police officer witnessed a crash in which Cilluffo was driving a 1988 truck as it accelerated and fishtailed just before slamming into a loading dock at 331 N. Market St.

Ricky Quan Shelton, a 59-year-old homeless man, was sitting on the dock at the time.

The officer ran to the scene to find Shelton unresponsive on the ground, Assistant State's Attorney Kirsten Brown said Thursday.

At the scene, Cilluffo told officers he thought the brakes on his truck weren't working and that he'd consumed two pitchers of beer that night. He was upset, crying, apologetic and nervous, Brown said.

Shelton was taken to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with significant injuries, including hemorrhaging and numerous fractures. He died at the hospital May 11, Brown said.

Cilluffo was arrested and taken to the police department, where his blood-alcohol level was measured at .17 percent, more than two times the state's legal limit for driving. At the station, he wrote a statement explaining that he was driving and "felt no brakes." After the crash, "I proceeded to sit and wait for paramedics and pray that everyone was OK," he wrote.

Cilluffo was initially arrested and charged with driving under the influence, and was released after posting $10,000 bail nine days before Shelton died.

Eighty-three days later on July 24, Cilluffo was arrested in Thurmont after leading police on a chase on northbound U.S. 15 that reached speeds of 135 mph. Police called off the chase because the speeds were so high, but Cilluffo was found a short time after a look-out was issued, Brown said.

During the chase, Cilluffo, who was riding a motorcycle, hit a car that was traveling north and did not stop, Brown said.

When police caught up to him, Cilluffo approached them with his hands behind his back and said that he'd done something "stupid" and was going away "for a long time," Brown said.

He failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a Breathalyzer, Brown said.

He pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter by motor vehicle, driving under the influence and driving without insurance in the first case. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, driving while suspended, failing to stop at the scene of a property damage collision, and fleeing and eluding in the second case.

The plea agreement outlines the sentences Cilluffo will receive at separate hearings Dec. 17 and 18.

He will get credit for time served between July 24 and Dec. 17 on two of the traffic charges. On Dec. 17, he will be sentenced to 18 months in jail for the driving while suspended charge in the second case. On Dec. 18, he will be sentenced to a second 18-month sentence in the first case. That sentence will not begin until Cilluffo finishes the first, Brown said. An additional 12-year prison sentence will be suspended.

If Cilluffo does not successfully complete three years of supervised probation, he could be sent to prison for the suspended sentence.

After the plea hearing, Cilluffo's attorney, Eric Schaffer, said he believed it was a fair sentence. "He accepted responsibility, and I think it's an appropriate disposition," Schaffer said.

Follow Danielle E. Gaines on Twitter: @danielleegaines.

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