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If a proposed plea agreement is accepted by Kosciusko Circuit Court Judge Rex Reed, a semi driver will serve no more than 18 months in prison in the 1999 death of an Etna Green woman.
Edwin L. Lynch, 49, of Springfield, Ohio, entered the proposed plea Friday on a Class D felony charge of criminal recklessness. Lynch originally was charged with reckless homicide, a Class C felony, after the Roadway Express Inc. rig he was driving struck a car from behind at a red light on U.S. 30.
The driver of the car, Jill L. Carpenter, 33, was trapped in the wreckage of the March 29, 1999, accident at CR 150W. She died from her injuries en route to the hospital.
Lynch was not charged until a year after the accident occurred.
A Class D felony is punishable by six months to three years in prison, as opposed to a two- to eight-year term for a Class C felony if Lynch pleaded guilty to or was found guilty of the original charge against him.
According to the plea agreement, the judge retains the authority to sentence the matter as a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in prison) and any term of imprisonment in excess of 18 months would be suspended for probation.
A civil lawsuit in the matter was settled earlier this year.
Jay Rigdon is Lynch's attorney in the criminal case. The next hearing in the matter is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 23.
