Philadelphia Truck Driver Involved In Deadly Crash Admits Falsifying Logs
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - A Philadelphia trucker who served jail time in Montgomery County, Pa. for causing a deadly Schuylkill Expressway crash more than two years ago is now facing a federal sentence after admitting he falsified his daily logs.
Valerijs Belovs has pleaded guilty to 15 counts of making false statements in connection with falsified commercial truck driver logbooks.
Authorities say the 58-year-old trucker kept four different sets of logs in which he made different statements about when he was driving and when he was resting.
Assistant US attorney Robert Reed says investigators had substantial evidence in this case, "that showed that he was not resting or sleeping as was indicated in his logs but was actually driving at the various times that were indicated."
Story continues below photo...
-----
Belovs was wrapping up a cross-country trip in January 2009, driving a rig that had brake problems, when he caused a chain reaction crash that killed a Fort Washington, Pa. man (above). He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and was sentenced to three to 23 months.
Reed, the assistant US attorney, says the regulations are designed to protect everyone on the road.
"That's the reason we want to limit the amount of time that people are on the road, so that they get appropriate sleep and rest and that they're alert when they're driving," Reed told KYW Newsradio today.
Guidelines call for 10 to 16 months on the charges related to the logbooks. Sentencing is set for March of next year.
Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060
