An off-duty Long Branch police officer admitted Tuesday that he was driving drunk when he fatally struck a woman as she crossed the street in September.

Detective Jake Pascucci acknowledged that he had a blood-alcohol level of .08, the state's legal limit for drivers, when he hit Karen Borkowski, 66, as she crossed Ocean Boulevard at the intersection of Broadway in Long Branch on Sept. 22.

Pascucci pleaded guilty before Judge Lorraine Pullen in Superior Court in Middlesex County to strict liability vehicular homicide and DWI. Prosecutors will drop the reckless and careless driving charges as part of the agreement.

The case was transferred to Middlesex County because Pascucci had worked on an investigation with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and that office felt it was a conflict of interest, a spokesman for the agency has said.

Long Branch police Officer Jake Pascucci appears in state Superior Court in New Brunswick. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Pascucci was facing a sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison under third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide, a new statute created in July in response to an outcry over light sentences for some drunken drivers who killed people.

Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Keith Abrams will request at Pascucci be sentenced to 364 days in jail. But the agreement allows Pascucci's attorney, Steven Altman, the opportunity to argue for no jail time and just probation.

It also forces Pascucci to hand in his Long Branch Police Department badge and requires him to pay restitution to the victim's family if there is any. Since the incident, Pascucci has been working with the police department in a support capacity and getting paid.

Altman declined to comment after the hearing.

Long Branch police Officer Jake Pascucci, right, and his attorney Steven Altman, left, appear in state Superior Court in New Brunswick. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Around 8:15 p.m. on Sept. 22, Pascucci was driving a 2016 Jeep Cherokee southbound on Ocean Boulevard when he hit Borkowski.

Her husband, Ed Borkowski, told NJ Advance Media after the incident that the two were staying at a nearby hotel for a church conference and his wife was crossing the street to go to the CVS to buy him bandages because he suffers from lymphedema, which causes him to have severe blisters on his legs.

"I want justice," he said. "And, as far as I'm concerned, it's not my will but God's will. We'll find out. He (God) is going to find out how to do it and Karen is probably up there telling him what to do."

Ed Borkowski was not present at Tuesday's court hearing. Other family members of Borkowski were present, but they were not immediately available to comment afterward.

Pascucci told officers at the scene that he had a green light and that Borkowski was jaywalking, according to dashboard camera video from police at the scene, obtained by NJ Advance Media through the state's Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

"She walked right in front of me, jaywalking," he can be heard saying in the video. "I have a green light, going this way, southbound. She walked right out in front of me."

Pascucci is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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