A man initially charged in a fatal boating accident in New York state has admitted that his brother was actually at the controls when it crashed into another boat, killing a Virginia police officer and his girlfriend.

Authorities in Onondaga County say 32-year-old Craig Cordes has been charged with boating while intoxicated and two counts of second-degree vehicular manslaughter.

Sheriff Kevin Walsh says 25-year-old Brian Cordes of Syracuse was initially charged after Sunday's early morning crash on Skaneateles Lake.

But Walsh says investigators found that Brian Cordes lied to protect his older brother, who's a law student at the University of Arizona.

The crash killed 32-year-old John Kelly, a police officer in Richmond, Virginia, and 26-year-old Heather Wilkins. Authorities say they were on Kelly's family's boat when the boat operated Craig Cordes slammed into it, then fled the scene.

Brian Cordes has been charged with hindering prosecution.