On May 15, 1998, college student Daniel Amoroso was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was hit by 43-year-old J.F., the head of a $500 million mutual fund, who is now serving time in prison. Richard Golomb, of Golomb Legal, P.C., represented the victim’s estate in a wrongful death lawsuit against the drunk driver, as well as the establishment that allowed him to get behind the wheel.
According to Golomb, his clients will receive a $4 million settlement from the two defendants, J.F. and The Turf Club—the specific contributions of which will remain confidential. The co-defendants will also make a $10,000 contribution to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Furthermore, J.F. was sentenced to prison for three to six years after being convicted of vehicular homicide last spring.
The civil lawsuit was filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in June 1998, less than two months after the accident. According to the wrongful death suit, J.F. consumed more than 10 alcoholic drunks over a five-hour period while spending time at The Turf Club, a horse race betting salon in Audubon. Although one bartender asked him to take a nap, another employee wound up walking him to the door.
J.F. left The Turf Club around 8:30 p.m. and, within a few minutes, rear-ended another vehicle. He signaled to the other drive that he was about to pull over, but proceeded to flee the scene. Just a few minutes later, J.F. crossed the center divider near the bypass of Route 422 and hit Amoroso’s vehicle head-on. This ultimately led to Amoroso’s death, who died at the scene from his injuries.
According to Montgomery County law enforcement authorities, J.F.’s blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.299% at the time of the accident, which is nearly three times the legal limit. As a result, J.F. and The Turf Club were sued for the events that transpired that night. More specifically, The Turf Club and its owner were sued for negligence, having violated the state’s dram shop law.