Sicklerville Man Pleads to Death by Auto

A township man faces seven years in state prison after he entered a guilty plea Tuesday in connection with a September 2010 death-by-auto case.

Philip Mastella, 28, of Edinshire Road, Sicklerville, admitted to striking Gary Forsythe, 32, of Merchantville, with a Ford Explorer SUV on Linden Avenue in Merchantville at about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2010, according to Camden County Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk. The Explorer dragged Forsythe.

Forsythe was pronounced dead at Camden's Cooper University Hospital later that day.

Mastella pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident that led to bodily injury or death, a second-degree crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 7 before Superior Court Judge Michelle Fox, who accepted the plea on Tuesday.

Mastella is expected to receive a seven-year prison sentence, with at least three years required before becoming eligible for parole, according to the prosecutor.