Idaho Trucker Convicted of Fatal Crash

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — An Idaho truck driver convicted in a fatal crash in North Dakota has been sentenced to serve three years in prison. A jury in August convicted 58-year-old Clark Christensen, of Shelley, Idaho, of negligent homicide. He initially had faced a more serious charge of manslaughter. Authorities say Christensen was driving a semitrailer that plowed into several vehicles stopped at a red light just west of Minot in May 2013 because his brakes were not properly maintained.

Christensen said a sneezing fit and not bad brakes led to the crash. Eight vehicles were damaged or destroyed, and 21-year-old Megan Shoal was killed. She was a Minot State University student from Plentywood, Montana.  KXMC-TV reports that Christensen was given credit for more than a year's time he's already spent in prison.