A truck driver has been cleared of all felony charges and found guilty of several lesser charges after a fatal crash with a high school marching band bus in 2023. 

61-year-old truck driver Jacob McDonald was found guilty on six misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide on Friday, May 16th by Judge David Branstool in Licking County, Ohio. 

According to MySanAntonio, McDonald was initially facing 26 charges: six third-degree felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine fourth-degree felony counts of vehicular assault and 11 first-degree misdemeanor counts of assault.

The November 2023 crash involving McDonald’s semi truck and a high school marching band bus on Interstate 70 in northeast Ohio killed six people – three students and three adult chaperones. McDonald failed to slow for traffic caused by a previous wreck and rear ended a car, pushing it into the bus. 

Judge Branstool ruled that the state failed to provide a convincing argument for the element of recklessness that could have led to felony charges. 

“This job gives me the opportunity to recognize how, at various points in our life, we’re all just a few feet or a few seconds away from disaster. And that’s what happened here,” Branstool said. 

McDonald will be sentenced at a later date. His attorney states that he faces a maximum sentence of 18 months.