BOWLING GREEN - Seventeen months after her brother and nephew were killed in a car accident, Diana Goebel got a sense of relief yesterday when John B. Spencer pleaded no contest to driving that night without a valid operator's license.

Mr. Spencer, 37, of Bowling Green, had been charged with wrongful entrustment - a misdemeanor that alleged he allowed his friend, Gary Pyle, Sr., to drive on the night of the crash knowing Mr. Pyle's license was suspended.

Both Mr. Pyle, 51, of Weston, Ohio, and his son, Gary Pyle, Jr., 31, of Monclova Township, were killed in the Feb. 17, 2006 crash on Poe Road near Tontogany.

After months of investigation, the Wood County Sheriff's Office said it could not prove who was driving due to the way the truck landed and the fact that the Pyles both were partially ejected.

Ms. Goebel did not think it was right to pin the deaths on her brother. "That's what we wanted - to prove that Gary wasn't driving," Ms. Goebel said after the hearing. "I didn't want him to take that other charge."

City Prosecutor Steve Callejas said both of the charges are first-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Had Mr. Spencer been convicted of wrongful entrustment, he also could have lost his driver's license for up to a year, Mr. Callejas said.

When yesterday's hearing began in Bowling Green Municipal Court, Mr. Spencer's attorney, Bruce Stevens, told Judge Mark Reddin his client intended to plead no contest to wrongful entrustment.

A few minutes later, Mr. Callejas walked into the courtroom and requested a break to speak with Mr. Stevens.

When they returned, Mr. Callejas proposed the amended charge of no operator's license. Before proceeding, Judge Reddin asked Ms. Goebel if it was her family's desire to have the charge amended, and she said it was.

"This tends to place the defendant as the operator of the vehicle," Judge Reddin said.

The judge found Mr. Spencer guilty and sentenced him to serve the maximum 180 days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

He said Mr. Spencer, a dump truck driver, could take part in the jail's work-release program if he was eligible.

Mr. Spencer told the court he lost a good friend in the crash.

"Gary died in my lap," he said. "I was there for his last couple breaths. I live that every day."

Mr. Stevens said the case was tragic for everyone - for Mr. Spencer who lost his friend and for the Pyles, who lost two family members.

First Published July 21, 2007, 9:39 a.m.