NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP — A Neptune Township man who amassed 42 suspensions and violations on a non-existent driver's license was sentenced today to more than 25 years in prison for killing three friends in a drag-racing stint nearly three years ago.

Under the term imposed by Superior Court Judge Jamie Perri in Freehold, Nelson Villanueva, 23, must serve 20 years and four months before becoming eligible for parole, Monmouth County Freeholder Luis Valentin said.

Villanueva was convicted July 12 of three counts each of vehicular homicide and causing death while on the revoked list and one count each of assault by auto and causing serious bodily injury while on the revoked list. Jurors acquitted him of three counts of aggravated manslaughter, the more serious charges.

The offenses stem from the fatal March 14, 2007, drag-racing incident that claimed the lives of three passengers in Villanueva’s car: John Richardson Jr., 20; Valentin Otero, 20 and his brother Jesse Otero, 19, all of Neptune Township.

Villanueva, the driver of the 1988 Mazda 626 Turbo, was injured in the crash along with the driver of the 2005 Acura TSX that Villanueva hit.

After the crash, authorities determined Villanueva had never been issued a driver’s license in New Jersey or any other state.

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Yet, according to New Jersey motor vehicle records at the time, he accumulated 42 suspensions and violations between May 2003 and early March 2007.

Three days after his conviction, Villanueva was accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 25-year-old Neptune Township woman at a Wall Township motel. Those charges are still pending.

During Villanueva’s month-long trial, the driver of the second drag-racing car, Carlos Ortiz, was acquitted of three aggravated manslaughter charges, but jurors could not reach a verdict on the vehicular homicide and assault by auto accusations. Ortiz, 27, of Neptune Township, is scheduled to appear Nov. 1 before Perri for a status conference on the unresolved charges.

Just before the crash, Villanueva and Ortiz, the driver of a 1993 Honda Accord, were speeding on Route 33 in Neptune Township, weaving in and out of evening traffic as they jockeyed for position between the two westbound lanes, authorities have said.

As they approached the intersection of Bangs Avenue, the Acura, driven by Lazarus Roseboro, 35, of Farmingdale, was turning left from Route 33 east. Ortiz, who was in the left lane of Route 33 west, narrowly missed hitting Roseboro’s vehicle. Villanueva, in the right lane, broadsided the passenger’s side of the Acura, which was slammed into a utility pole.

Villanueva’s three friends were killed instantly and were pronounced dead at the scene of the 8:45 p.m. accident.

Roseboro was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center down the road in Neptune with fractures of his spine and shoulder as well as multiple bruises.

Villanueva was also injured in the crash and his initial court appearance was delayed while he was treated at Jersey Shore.