A man charged in a drunk-driving fatal crash in 2011 in Westfield apologized in court to the family of the victim.
ELIZABETH -- Five years after her father was killed in a drunken driving crash in Westfield, a tearful Sheri Tyliczka stood in court Friday and confronted the man who admitted causing the accident.
"You, Robert McGowan, have handed down a life sentence for my family," Tyliczka said. "We are coming up on our sixth Thanksgiving without my dad."
McGowen, 30, of Connecticut, pleaded guilty in September to charges of second-degree vehicular homicide and third-degree assault by auto for the Oct. 1, 2011 crash that killed Peter Tyliczka, 69, of Old Bridge. Two passengers in his car were injured in the crash.
"There is a light at the end of the tunnel for you," Sheri Tyliczka said to McGowan, referring to the four year prison sentence. "There is no light for my family. I wish you the best of luck, but you have devastated my family."
Before he was sentenced, McGowen turned and apologized to the nearly two dozen friends of relatives of Peter Tyliczka at the court hearing.
"You don't have to like me," McGowan said, "but I want to say I'm sorry." He referred to a letter he had written to the family expressing his sorrow.
McGowan was driving on Tice Place in Westfield shortly after 1 a.m. when he went through a stop sign and struck Tyliczka's 2001 Cadillac Eldorado as he was driving on Clifton Avenue. Tyliczka was thrown from the car.
McGowan had blood alcohol level of .08, above the limit for being legal intoxicated.
McGowan's lawyer, Michael Pappa, had argued for a shorter sentence of less than a year in the county jail. Pappa said Tyliczka had not been wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, that the weather was factor in the crash, that the stop sign was partly obscured by a tree and that one witness reported Tyliczka did not have his car lights turned on.
Union County Assistant Prosecutor Carolina Lawlor said McGowan - who graduated from Westfield High School but was living in Connecticut at the time of the crash - was familiar with the intersection.
"Mr. McGowan had stopped there many times before," Lawlor said. She said McGowan told police he had three or four beers prior to the crash, and that he was traveling 45 mph in an area with a 25 mph speed limit.
The prosecutor's office did not obtain an indictment against McGowan for the crash until November 2015, because there issues with seat belts and other factors in the case, Lawlor said.
After the crash, McGowan went on to become a businessman in Connecticut. In November 2015, shortly before he was indicted, McGowan was elected to the town council in Trumbull, Conn. He resigned one day after news reports surfaced of the indictment.
Superior Court Judge Scott J.Moynihan said McGowan had no prior record and that he had apologized to the family.
"In my over 19 years on the bench, I have never seen such sincere remorse," Moynihan said. He noted McGowan's volunteer work and his plans to eventually speak before youths about dangers drinking and driving.
When Moynihan announced the four-year sentence that had been negotiated in a plea agreement, McGowan let out a soft sigh. McGowan must serve three years and five months of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Moynihan offered condolences to the relatives of all the victims, then to McGowan he said, "I think you'll come out alright, and you'll be able to resume your life."
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.