Man charged in fatal Cape Cod boat crash sentenced to probation

The man charged in a fatal boat crash last summer that left a 17-year-old Sherborn teen dead was recently sentenced on several of the charges against him. 

David K. Sullivan of Medfield, who was 19 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty this month to charges of boat homicide by negligence, possession of false RMV documents, and person under 21 in possession of alcohol, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped the other three charges he faced — OUI boat homicide, reckless/negligent, and two counts of operation of a vessel while under the influence of intoxication liquor causing serious bodily injury. 

Authorities said Sullivan was impaired while driving the boat with six passengers that crashed into a jetty in Dennis on July 21, 2023, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Sadie Mauro of Sherborn and the injury of two others. Sullivan’s attorney, David Meier, in previous statements characterized the crash as an accident. 

“What occurred that night was an unimaginable tragedy,” Meier said in 2023. “But what occurred was an accident in every sense of the word. These criminal charges only compound that tragedy for everyone involved.”

Sullivan initially pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. 

According to court records, Sullivan was given a suspended sentence last week of two and a half years in a house of correction and five years of probation.