It’ll be three years in prison for an Uber driver who kidnapped a female passenger he picked up in Midtown, allegedly groping her after she passed out, and then dumping her off in Connecticut without her phone while racking up a $1,047 fare.
Harbir Parmar, 25, pleaded guilty in March to one count of kidnapping and one count of wire fraud, which could have landed him behind bars for up to nine years under the federal sentencing guidelines — with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Parmar was supposed to drop his 30-year-old victim off in White Plains but instead ditched her on I-95 in Branford, Connecticut.
Parmar was not charged with sexually assaulting the woman and, at a sentencing hearing on Monday in White Plains before District Judge Vincent Briccetti, he denied touching her inappropriately.
“I did not sexually assault this person,” Parmar said. “I never physically harmed or sexually assaulted her. I only tried to run up the bill on her.”
The US Attorney’s office in White Plains had recommended a sex offender evaluation for Parmar, but Briccetti spared him, calling his decision on that matter a “close call” and said that Parmar’s behavior was “completely appalling and inappropriate.”
“The next thing she knows, she wakes up to find the defendant groping her in the backseat of the car,” Briccetti said, describing the night of the kidnapping. “He gets off of her, but in doing so takes her phone away so she can’t call for help.”
Parmar’s passenger from the Feb. 21, 2018, ride from hell was one of at least 10 people who fell victim to a two-year scam in which he would stick his passengers with overcharges for false destinations and more than $3,600 in fraudulent cleaning fees
Parmar’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said his client ran the scheme as an act of desperation stemming from an ill-advised real estate purchase that put him in deep debt — and stupidity.
“He’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed … I guess his executive functioning skills are not that astute,” Aidala quipped.
The judge ordered Parmar to pay restitution to his victims and ordered to surrender for prison by Aug. 9.