Operator of limo company in Schoharie crash sues to restore plea deal

Nauman Hussain, the operator of the limousine company at the center of the deadly 2018 crash in Schoharie, is suing to get his original plea deal restored.

Hussain’s lawyers want the court to honor that deal that would have him serve probation and not go to jail, so they filed an Article 78 on Friday. That appeals to a higher court.

They argue that State Supreme Court Judge Peter Lynch abused his discretion by not abiding by the terms of the plea agreement, and they want to compel Judge Lynch to accept the original terms of the agreement.

The judge surprised everyone in August at what was supposed to be Hussain’s sentencing for 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide, when he said he would not honor the plea deal agreed to by the now-retired county judge who’d presided over the case before Lynch took it on.

The agreement would have had Hussain serve no jail time, but serve four more years of probation. He had already served one year related to the October 2018 crash that killed 20 people.

Hussain’s attorney, Lee Kindlon, declined to comment, citing the active litigation now against the judge.