Trucker gets three years in prison for fatal crash blamed on fatigue
WHEATON, Ill. -- A truck driver has been sentenced to three years in prison in a fatal crash in Illinois that left a tollway worker dead and a state trooper injured, reports CBS Chicago.
In February, Renato Velasquez, 47, was found guilty of driving a commercial vehicle while fatigued and two counts of failure to comply with hours of service requirements. He had also been found guilty of driving too fast for conditions and failure to yield to emergency vehicles, according to the station.
Velasquez was reportedly operating a semi-trailer-tractor truck on Jan. 27, 2014 when his rig plowed into vehicles that were parked on the shoulder along Interstate 88 near Eola Road, according to CBS Chicago.
Tollway employee Vincent Petrella was killed and state trooper Douglas Balder was critically injured. The trooper suffered burns and injuries and spent six weeks in a medically induced coma, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"Illinois law imposes rules and regulations on the trucking industry for a reason - to keep the roads safe for all motorists," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. "Ignoring these regulations however, can result in tragic consequences, as we saw in this case."
The charges on which the driver was convicted carried a maximum three-year prison term. Still, prosecutors argued for six, saying that a previous drug conviction made Velasquez eligible for a longer term, according to the Tribune.
During the hearing, Velasquez apologized for his actions, but Trooper Balder didn't find it sincere.
"Never anything until this last minute just before sentencing did I ever hear him say 'I'm sorry for this crash or my actions,'" Balder said.