Kevin Roper, the truck driver who crashed into the back of a car carrying Tracy Morgan and three others – killing one of them – pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated assault. He originally pleaded guilty in 2014, but has since reversed his decision.
While there are many reasons he may have changed his plea, the most obvious is that he may be able to avoid jail time if he follows the terms of his plea bargain. If he had lost a not guilty plea, he could have been facing a 10-to-30 year prison sentence. Another aspect of the case which helped Roper was the fact that neither Tracy Morgan nor any of the other passengers in the van were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
The driver was working for Wal-Mart at the time. The retail giant has already settled separate lawsuits from Tracy Morgan and the family of deceased comedian James McNair. Morgan has since made several public appearances and says he has forgiven the driver for the traumatic incident.
[via AP]