Man Pleads Guilty to Fatal Crash that Killed Principal

A New Jersey man admits he took four times the recommended dose of a prescription sleep aid before he drifted into oncoming traffic and crashed into a school principal, killing him instantly.

Dennis Smentkowski of Tinton Falls pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Newark to involuntary manslaughter. He faces up to eight years in prison when he’s sentenced Jan. 24.

The crash occurred on military property near Fort Monmouth in 2008. The facility has since closed, but the federal courts have jurisdiction over the former Army land.

Smentkowski told the judge he took four 12.5 milligram pills an hour before getting into his car that morning — four times the recommended dosage. He acknowledged causing the death of Donald Merce, principal of Little Silver’s Markham Place School.