A truck driver will serve between three and six years in prison for fatally striking another trucker that was stopped on the shoulder of the highway.

57-year-old Texas truck driver Alan Kegel received his sentence on Tuesday, November 14th for the accident that occurred back in January in Silver Springs Township, Pennsylvania.

According to police reports, on January 13th, Kegel was driving his semi truck on northbound Interstate 81 when he sideswiped another rig that was stopped on the shoulder. The driver of that truck, 24-year-old Zivko Lakic of the Bronx, was standing next to the rig and was fatally struck in the accident.

Kegel then continued on the highway, finally stopping at a Flying J truck stop in Dauphin County, about 20 miles north from the scene of the accident, to sleep for the night.

The following morning, around 6:20 a.m., the deceased trucker’s company called police because they couldn’t get into contact with him. Police used the truck’s GPS to find its location and discovered the driver’s body, as well as evidence that there was a collision with another tractor trailer.

Police later found Kegel at the Flying J truck stop and took him into custody after finding “bodily fluid” on the front of his rig, as well as damage to his rig that linked him to the accident.

Kegel was arrested and told police that he “may have fallen asleep” while driving. He said he didn’t stop at the scene because he believed it “was not a big deal.” He denied knowing that he struck another person.

During his September trial, Kegel continued to deny knowing he struck a person. He pleaded no contest to a third-degree felony count of homicide by vehicle. He was originally charged with seven other counts related to the crash but they were dropped as a condition of his plea bargain.

Kegel was sentenced to serve three to six years in prison for the fatal accident.