Drunken driver gets 21 years for killing couple, child in Rockaway Twp. crash

MORRISTOWN - A Mountain Lakes man who said he was drunk when he caused a fiery crash that killed a couple and their toddler two years ago was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday.

Bhavuk Uppal, now 24, told the judge he was suffering from depression and was addicted to alcohol and drugs caused by his parents' divorce at the time of the crash on Route 80 in Rockaway Township on July 11, 2015.

Uppal, driving drunk on whiskey and without a valid driver's license, rear-ended a Kia that burst into flames killing Briana Mae Anderson, 21, Edward Russell Hitt, 24, and their 18-month-old daughter, Charlotte Reagan Hitt. Anderson was five months pregnant at the time of her death.

"On July 11, 2015, I acted recklessly, and I now realize I didn't just hurt three people, I permanently damaged the lives of you all," Uppal told the victims' family in court. "My carelessness caused more pain than I can repair."

The victims' relatives told Uppal and the judge that the 21-year sentence is not enough.

"You have received so many chances to become a better member of society and have not made a change for the better," said Anderson's sister, Candyce Gordon. "Our family is destroyed. I wish I could take this hole that we have in our hearts and place it into yours so that you could feel a fraction of the pain we feel and will continuously feel for the rest of our lives."

Uppal pleaded guilty in Superior Court in October to three counts of death-by-auto, accepting a plea recommendation by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office that called for him to receive consecutive sentences of seven years for each victim.

The history: Man admits to driving drunk on whiskey, killing family

More: Hanover's Red Room Tavern owner said she and husband lucky to be alive

Uppal must serve 85 percent of the 21 years behind bars, or 17 years and 10 months. He will get credit for 874 days he has spent in custody at the Morris County Jail. Upon release, he will be on parole for nine years and his license will be revoked for 10 years.

"The justice that you're being offered is not, in our opinion, enough," Gordon said as she faced Uppal in court.

One of seven close-knit siblings, Briana Anderson was showing her boyfriend and daughter where she grew up in Long Island before the fatal crash, relatives said. On their long trip back to Kentucky, they were stopped in traffic in a construction zone on Route 80 west in Rockaway Township at 1:30 a.m. when Uppal, in a borrowed Cadillac Escalade, crashed into the back of their Kia.

The impact pushed the Kia into the car in front and later burst into flames, a horrific ending to three beloved lives the family is forced to remember, Gordon said.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano read a letter to Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor from Hitt's parents, Barbara and Jack, where they wrote Briana Anderson and Charlotte were part of a family they loved. They said in their letter they don't think 21 years is "an adequate penalty."

"Given the circumstances, we do not think this is an adequate penalty," Hitt's parents wrote. "Mr. Uppal ripped a hole in our family that will never be healed. But we should not lose sight of the real crime here. Denying Russell, Briana and Charlotte their God-given life, liberty and happiness."

"We pray the Almighty will allow us in another time and place to embrace them again. Maybe then we can forgive Mr. Uppal. But for now he will have to pray to God for forgiveness," Troiano read from the letter.

Troiano told the judge the plea offer of 21 years was extended to Uppal after protracted negotiations with his various attorneys and a review of all the evidence in the case. According to records, police found a syringe in Uppal's SUV after the crash and morphine - which indicated prior heroin use - was found in his urine. Because of difficulties proving when heroin was ingested, this form of impairment was not pursued when he plead guilty, according to authorities.

Uppal's attorney, Richard Potter, said his client has been remorseful from the start. He said his client has accepted responsibility, but his life changed years ago when his parents divorced and he self-medicated with opioids and alcohol, and even attempted suicide.

Discounting Uppal's justifications for driving drunk, Troiano noted that Uppal had a terrible driving record that included two citations for speeding, a reckless driving ticket and driving while his license was suspended. Troiano said he also wondered how well relatives and friends knew Uppal, who had prior arrests for robbery, drug possession, theft and harassment.

"The fact that he wanted to commit suicide previously, which I don't know but have no reason to dispute, does not in any way, any way, diminish what happened here. There are people that suffer from any one of these issues in their lives - a broken home, substance abuse, mental health issues, suicidal ideations - that make the right decisions day in and day out," Troiano said.

Uppal asked the Anderson family in court to forgive him, after his mother, another relative and two family friends spoke of his sensitivity and kindness. His mother, who declined to give her name after the sentencing, cried as she said: "As a mother, I can just imagine what everyone is going through in the family."

"I beg you for forgiveness because not a day has gone by that our thoughts and prayers have not been with you," the mother said.

Uppal told the judge he realizes he has hurt many lives besides killing the three victims.

The judge said the pain Uppal's relatives and friends will feel at his imprisonment is no comparison to the loss of the three victims.

"The enormity of the loss here is perhaps only exceeded by the complete senselessness of this crime," Taylor said.

At his plea in October, Uppal said he drank two double shots of Black Label whiskey and was "absolutely" impaired when he drove down Route 80. He said he wasn't aware that traffic had stopped in front of him because he wasn't paying attention.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.