A New York State correction officer has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter for driving while intoxicated and killing his passenger in a crash in the North Country town of Chateaugay. Attorney General Letitia James announced on Monday, November 2, that Ryan Bordeau, 25, of Malone, Franklin County — a correction officer with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) — pleaded guilty to Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree for the January 27, 2026 crash that killed Jennifer Hathorn.

Source: New York Attorney General (press release, Nov. 2, 2026)

Bordeau entered the plea before Judge Craig P. Carriero in Franklin County Court. Judge Carriero remanded him to the county jail pending sentencing, and Bordeau is due back in court for sentencing on January 8, 2027. He has waived his right to appeal, the Attorney General's office said. A guilty plea means there will be no trial in the case.

25Age of Ryan Bordeau, of Malone, Franklin County
Jan. 27, 2026Night of the crash on State Route 11 in Chateaugay
Jan. 8, 2027Sentencing date in Franklin County Court
2Misdemeanour DWI counts in the original charges against Bordeau

The night of the crash: Route 11, shortly before 11 p.m.

Shortly before 11:00 p.m. on January 27, 2026, Bordeau was off duty and driving on State Route 11 in Chateaugay when he lost control of his vehicle, causing it to leave the roadway and crash. The Attorney General's office said Bordeau was intoxicated at the time. Ms. Hathorn, his passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene during the early morning hours of January 28, 2026. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Arrested, released — then investigated by the Attorney General

New York State Police responded to the crash and later arrested Bordeau, charging him with Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree — a class D felony — and two counts of misdemeanour Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). He was arraigned in Malone Town Court on January 28, 2026, and the court released him on his own recognizance, meaning he was free while the case moved forward. DOCCS suspended Bordeau after the incident, the Attorney General's office said.

Because the person accused was a peace officer, the case did not stay a routine local prosecution. The Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation (OSI) was notified of the incident after Bordeau's arraignment and opened its own investigation into Ms. Hathorn's death on January 30, 2026 — the investigation that ended in Monday's guilty plea.

Why the Attorney General's office handles cases like this

Under New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, the Office of Special Investigation assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer — including a correction officer — may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. The officer may be on duty or off duty. If the assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI conducts a full investigation.

Background: Chateaugay, a border town in Franklin County

Chateaugay is a small town in the northeastern corner of Franklin County, in New York's North Country, where the town's northern line is the international border with Canada (Quebec). The crash happened on State Route 11, the main road through the community, late on a January night — the kind of rural two-lane highway where a single vehicle leaving the roadway, with no other vehicle involved, is exactly the pattern prosecutors examine in intoxicated-driving death cases.

What happens next

Bordeau will remain in the Franklin County jail until sentencing on January 8, 2027, when Judge Carriero will impose the sentence for the class D felony to which he has pleaded guilty. The Attorney General's announcement does not set out an agreed sentence, so the length of the prison term will be decided by the court at that hearing. Having waived his right to appeal, Bordeau's case will effectively end with that sentence. Awaaz Punjab will report the sentence when it is imposed.