Ex-FDNY firefighter Joseph Norris of Babylon sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for wrong-way DWI crash that killed Anthony Mariano

In a bitterly divided Riverhead courtroom, a judge Wednesday sentenced a former FDNY firefighter to up to 15 years in prison for a wrong-way crash that killed a beloved teacher from Kings Park.

Joseph Norris of Babylon had almost three times the legal alcohol limit in his system when he drove the wrong way on the Sunken Meadow Parkway in November 2020 and crashed into an SUV driven by Anthony Mariano, instantly killing the teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens.

At his sentencing Wednesday, Norris begged Mariano's family for forgiveness.

"If I could trade places with Anthony I would," Norris said in court after an hour of emotion-laden victim impact statements from Mariano's family members.

Acting State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Braslow sentenced Norris to 5 to 15 years in prison for aggravated vehicular homicide and 5 to 15 years for manslaughter, in sentences to run concurrently. He pleaded guilty to the charges on May 23.

"Hopefully he serves on the higher end of that," said Mariano's fiancee, Christie Azzolini. She said she didn't believe Norris, who lost both his legs in the crash, would actually want to switch places with the man she planned to marry.

"It would be for selfish reasons because he doesn't want to live with no legs," she said.

In their victim impact statements, Azzolini, Mariano's brothers Matthew and Chris, his sister Kristin and parents, Vincent and Claudia, all described how the fatal crash on Nov. 20, 2020, shattered their family and cut short the life of a man they said was a generous mentor and inspiration to many.

"You are a despicable individual," Vincent Mariano told Norris as he glared at the former New York City firefighter.

"When you killed my son," Mariano added, "you killed a part of me."

Mariano, 44, was out picking up dinner for his family when his SUV was hit by a truck driven the wrong way by Norris, who had just spent the afternoon drinking at a Commack strip club.

Norris drove southbound in the roadway's northbound lanes for more than 3 miles before the crash.

Court officers kept a close eye on the packed Riverhead courtroom, separating family members and supporters of Norris and Mariano. The two sides had sparred in the courthouse previously. Throughput the proceeding, people in the courtroom could be heard weeping.

Chris Mariano talked about that night of "pure horror" — frantically driving the route his brother took hoping to find him. Instead, Mariano said, he came upon the blocked road and the mangled wreck where his brother died.

Matthew Mariano, Anthony's twin brother, described him as someone who would "light up every room" he entered and lived his life with purpose.

And Azzolini said she went from planning a wedding with her partner of 10 years to planning his funeral.

"The pain and suffering is unbearable," she said.

Norris sat in a wheelchair, his right hand shaking through most of the proceeding. He paused several times during his statement, acknowledging the damage he did to both Mariano's family and his own.

He promised to serve his prison sentence to the best of his ability and find a way to "help make this world a better place than I left it."

Braslow was unmoved by Norris' pleas for forgiveness, saying he "killed this gentle soul."

"I am going to grieve along with this family," Braslow said, urging Norris to "search his soul" in an effort to make amends in his life.

Braslow also railed against the "out of control" cases of people driving while under the influence of substances and criticized Norris for never seeking help. He said someone with a 2.9 alcohol level is not someone who had one bad night.

"You cannot get to a 2.9 if you are not drinking every day of your life," Braslow said.

Prosecutors said beer cans and a bottle of whiskey were found in Norris’ Chevrolet Colorado after the crash.

Braslow said the plea deal and sentence were done to spare the family the experience of a trial where they would have to see photos and hear disturbing evidence about the crash.

Azzolini said scholarships and other charitable works are being done in Anthony's name.

"We're just going to try and keep his memory alive through things that were important to him," she said. "Two and a half years is a long time to have to wait for some sort of justice. We've been fighting so hard for that now we can perhaps start focusing on ourselves and healing."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Acting State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Braslow.

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.