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Falmouth woman pleads guilty in Maine crash that killed 4
Noelle Tavares was a passenger in the vehiclewhen one of her peers lost control and hit a tree, prosecutors said.
Former Maine Maritime Academy student Noelle Tavares reached a plea agreement on Friday for her involvement in a 2022 crash that killed four of her peers, The Boston Globe reported.
Court documents showed Tavares, of Falmouth, faced 13 charges in Hancock Superior Court related to the incident. Prosecutors accused her of giving her keys to driver Joshua Goncalves-Radding and purchasing alcohol with a fake ID before the crash in Castine, making her an accomplice in the crash.
Terms of the plea agreement
As part of the agreement, she pleaded guilty to one felony charge of procuring alcohol for a minor resulting in death, the Globe reported. In exchange, prosecutors gave her a two-year deferral on her sentence. Other charges were dropped in the agreement, and Tavares will not be allowed to consume alcohol during the two-year period, according to the Globe.
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If she complies with the stipulations of the deferred sentence, the felony charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor. In addition, she will have to pay a fine of $500 and donate $1,000 to advocacy organization Students Against Destructive Decisions, the Globe reported.
However, if she violates the agreement, she will be sentenced on the felony charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both, according to the Globe.
Legal representation for Tavares did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger told the Globe that members of the victim’s family requested leniency for Tavares, and that his office believed this outcome was “reasonable and fair.”
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“This resolution also provides Ms.Tavares with the opportunity to succeed in life and avoid a felony conviction,” Granger said to the Globe. “As a condition of the deferred disposition Ms. Tavares must also address the next two incoming classes of Maine Maritime freshman about the dangers of bad choices involving alcohol from a personal perspective.”
Prosecutors determine Tavares is at fault for crash that killed 4
Tavares was a passenger when fellow student Goncalves-Radding drove between 106 and 111 miles an hour and crashed around 2 a.m., the case indictment said. Goncalves-Radding was driving seven students home from a bar when he lost control and hit a tree, prosecutors told the Globe.
Goncalves-Radding is serving a three-year prison sentence for his involvement in the crash, court documents show.
Documents said Massachusetts residents Luke Rockwell Simpson, 22, of Rockport, and Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, died in the crash, along with Maine residents Brian Kenealy, 20 of York, and Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner.
“We’ll mourn these young men in their memory,” former Maine Maritime Academy President Jerry Paul said during a vigil for the students. “We will never forget them nor this moment in the history of Maine Maritime Academy. They were lost way too soon and before their watch was over.”
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