Trucker sentenced Monday for deadly I-80 crash in Austin

Trucker being sentenced Monday for deadly I-80 crash in Austintown

Davit Pluidze

A New Jersey trucker could face suspension of his Commercial Driver's License when he is sentenced Monday after being convicted earlier on a charge filed after his tractor-trailer crossed into the oncoming lanes of Interstate 80 in Austintown, plowing into a pickup truck, and killing the driver.

Davit Pluidze, 54, pleaded “no contest” in May to misdemeanor vehicular homicide.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Pluidze was driving a tractor-trailer east on the morning of December 5 when it crashed through the median barrier and ran into a Ram pickup coming in the opposite lanes.

The pickup struck a guardrail, ejecting the driver, 25-year-old Zackery Leffler of Burlington, Kentucky. Leffler was killed in the crash, which snarled traffic along the interstate.

The sentencing hearing may also include victim impact statements.