By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — The manslaughter charges against a crane company owner and mechanic allegedly responsible for the deaths of two crane workers in an Upper East Side collapse was upheld by a judge on Tuesday.
New York Crane company owner James Lomma and mechanic Tibor Varganyi were charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the deaths of crane workers Donald Leo and Ramadan Kurtaj nearly three years ago at 333 E. 91st St.
The construction crane fell about 200 feet to the street on May 30, 2008 because a faulty turntable had been installed on the body of the massive machine, prosecutors said.
Lomma, 65 and Varganyi, 64 were indicted in connection with what prosecutors believe was a preventable tragedy. The defense argued to have the charges dismissed, but Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Thomas Farber ruled Tuesday that the charges will stick. The case was unsealed in March 2010 and a trial may begin this summer.
Donald Leo's mother, Maria, was in court to hear what she believed was promising news. She said the emotion she felt at the decision was "overwhelming."
"This is a step in the right direction," she said. "It's going on three years. It doesn't get any easier."
Farber issued the verbal decision Tuesday but also plans to provide a written decision to explain his thinking further.
In July 2010, crane rigger William Rapetti was acquitted of manslaughter and other charges in connection to a separate crane collapse on East 51st Street in March 2008.
