A Seneca Falls man has been sentenced 25 years in prison for causing the death of his young stepson.
Donald Bovio was sentenced to 25 years in prison for causing the death of his 3-year-old stepson, Panagiotis “Peter” Stephanides-Vacchino, nearly five years ago.
Bovio pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in January, and on Wednesday, state Supreme Court Justice Jason Cook sentenced him to the maximum term.
Bovio faced multiple charges, including second-degree murder, in the May 2018 death of Peter, but his conviction was overturned last year due to insufficient coverage of a key element of the murder charge, known as depraved indifference.
An appeals court sent the case back to county court, where Bovio pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge.
Alison Bovio pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge as part of an agreement to cooperate in the case against her husband. She was sentenced in 2019 to 4-12 years in prison.
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