Driver gets work release for fatal crash

6/19/2013

Correct version, fixing the terms of the sentence and when Kenneth Tesznar died.

A Maumee man who was speeding on wet pavement when his car crashed, killing his best friend, was sentenced Tuesday to 60 in the Lucas County work release program.

Joshua Pelton, 26, of 1717 Trailview Dr., also was placed on community control for three years by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Myron Duhart. His driver’s license was suspended for four years.

Pelton pleaded no contest last month and was found guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide for an Oct. 19 crash that killed Kenneth Tesznar, 25, of Toledo.

Pelton, who was in the U.S. Army living in Georgia at the time, was in Toledo for a wedding when the crash occurred on the Anthony Wayne Trail east of Detroit Avenue. Mr. Tesznar, who was not wearing a seat belt, later died from his injuries.

The victim’s family members told the court they did not want Pelton to be punished for what they believed was an accident.

After imposing the prison sentence, Judge Myron Duhart dismissed a second count of aggravated vehicular homicide that had alleged Pelton was intoxicated at the time of the crash. A charge of improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle, which alleged he had two loaded handguns in his vehicle, also was dismissed. Judge Duhart ordered that the guns be destroyed.

- Jennifer Feehan