The New Jersey grandpa accused of killing his two young grandkids in a drunken boating accident balked Tuesday at copping to a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 10 years.
Stephen Schneider’s lawyers said in Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River that there was still too much to review before any potential deal could be reached.
“We’re waiting patiently for most of the discovery, and it’s going to be a long time coming,” said one of Schneider’s lawyers, William Cunningham.
Schneider, a 64-year-old married retired postal workr, had been offered two five-year sentences, to run consecutively, for the death-by-vessel charges involving his tragic grandchildren, who were killed when he crashed his boat July 19 in Berkley Township.
It was later revealed that the grandpa was allegedly drunk – with prosecutors saying his blood-alcohol content was 0.16, twice the legal limit of 0.08.
Here’s the latest on Stephen Schneider, the NJ grandpa charged in DUI boat crash:
- Grandpa in fatal Jersey Shore boat crash that killed two grandkids was intoxicated, charged with homicide
- Chilling 911 audio released after NJ grandpa allegedly crashed boat drunk, killing grandkids
- Heartbreaking reason NJ kids were on grandpa’s boat before they were killed in ‘DUI’ crash
- Dad of NJ kids killed by grandpa in DUI boating accident begs for his release — as prosecutors reveal how drunk he was
Schneider turned himself in Berkley Township police after the 9 p.m. crash, where he allegedly plowed his 30-foot Tidewater 280 center-console motorboat into a channel marker while taking his wife and two grandkids home from a family dinner.
The kids — Mya Bella Golabek, 9, Sigmund Paul Golabek, 7 – were thrown from the boat and despite wearing life jackets, were killed.
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Schneider’s son, the father of the deceased kids, pleaded for his dad’s release in August.
Prosecutors ended up conceding Tuesday that their pitch for a plea deal with the defendant may have come too early, after Schneider’s lawyers’ objections.
“We’re going to be waiting for an autopsy report for a period of time,” assistant prosecutor Chrisopher Heisler said. “We have some requests from the Coast Guard with respect to the waterway, that’s going to take some time.
“So I concur with counsel that it’s going to be some period of time,” he said, although noting that many police reports have already been turned over to the defense.
Schneider has remained on pre-trial monitoring since his release.
He is due back in court Nov. 16.
