Buffalo man sentenced to prison in connection with fatal wrong-way crash on I-190

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Buffalo man has been sentenced to prison in connection with a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 190 in August 2023.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office announced that Guillermo Morales, 53, was sentenced by the state Supreme Court to an indeterminate sentence of five to 15 years in prison.

The district attorney’s office said that on Aug. 12, 2023, Morales was driving under the influence of alcohol and a drug when he caused a collision on I-190 near Scajaquada Expressway in Buffalo. He was driving on the wrong side of 190 when he struck another vehicle head-on. The driver of the other vehicle, Matthew J. Czop, 38, of Tonawanda, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Morales was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was arraigned the same day while hospitalized at ECMC.

The prosecutor said that during the investigation, Morales was found in possession of a certain amount of cocaine.

Morales pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated vehicular manslaughter, one count of second-degree manslaughter, one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of first-degree aggravated unlicensed driving in April.