Legal Woes Growing For Jim Leyritz

The news for ex-Yankee Jim Leyritz keeps getting worse.

Ex-Yankee home-run hero Jim Leyritz was driving with a suspended license when he allegedly got drunk and smashed into a car driven by a mother of two, killing her, motor vehicle records reveal.

Leyritz, 44, had his Florida driver's license suspended by New York authorities on Nov. 23, according to a New York Department of Motor Vehicles database.

The license was suspended because he failed to answer a motor vehicle summons issued to him in upstate Guilderland, near Albany. Information about the nature of the summons was not available.

Because states honor each other's motor vehicle licensing, New York's suspension meant that Leyritz was not allowed to drive in Florida, or anywhere else, according to James Lowy, a Florida lawyer not connected to Leyritz's case.

Lowy said that if Florida authorities learn that Leyritz was aware his license was suspended, he could face another year in prison on top of the 15-year maximum term he faces if convicted. He is charged with manslaughter while driving under the influence and DUI property damage in the early morning smash-up that killed Fredia Ann Veitch in Fort Lauderdale.

Leyritz's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, declined to comment on the suspended license.

The Post revealed yesterday that Leyritz had since 2002 racked up at least seven motor vehicle violations in Florida. Those violations included two citations for ignoring stops signs, and another for driving with a suspended license.

Not only was he arrested for DUI and vehicular homicide after a car wreck in Florida that claimed the life of the driver of the other vehicle, but we now learn that Leyritz was driving with a suspended license and had no business being behind the wheel notwithstanding the fact that he shouldn't have been behind the wheel after allegedly drinking.