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A Russian man who caused a 2022 car crash along the Palisadoes main road in Kingston that killed four people has been ordered to pay $2 million in fines within seven days or serve three months in prison.

Fifty-three-year-old Alexey Zaytsev was fined today by Justice Leighton Pusey in the Home Circuit Court after pleading guilty to four counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

On December 11, 2022, a motor vehicle driven by Zaytsev collided with a taxi carrying two men and two women. All four passengers, identified as Rose Roberts-Banton, 54, Zachery Heslop, 18, Delroy Grant, 53, and Camille Grant, 53, all of Seaview Gardens in Kingston, died from injuries sustained in the crash.

Zaytsev was fined $500,000 on each count, totalling $2 million, which must be paid within a week.

In his plea for leniency, Zaytsev's attorney, King's Counsel Peter Champagnie, urged the judge to consider several mitigating factors, including the fact that some relatives of the victims expressed that they did not wish to see Zaytsev imprisoned.

The attorney also told the court that civil proceedings were under way and that Zaytsev's insurance company had indicated a willingness to settle any claims for compensation.

Champagnie further noted that Zaytsev had no previous convictions and had expressed genuine remorse for the loss of life.

- Tanesha Mundle

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