Slezak pleads no contest in 2012 incident that killed 5

Josef Slezak, 36, of Rivergrove, Ill. pled no contest Friday afternoon to four counts of motor vehicle homicide, a class IIIA felony and one count of motor vehicle homicide involving an unborn child, a class IV felony. Judge Derek Weimer, ruling over Cheyenne County district court accepted the pleas and found Slezak guilty of all counts.

Weimer ordered a pre-sentence investigation report and scheduled sentencing for October 16 at noon.

On Sept. 9, 2012 Slezak was driving a commercial tractor trailer on Interstate 80 in Cheyenne county. A wreck had stopped traffic on that roadway near mile marker 40. Others stopped at the crash sight claimed that they saw emergency flasher lights about a half mile before reaching the crash site, which indicated drivers had plenty of time to stop. Those stopped on the highway saw Slezak approaching at a high rate of speed and attempted to contact him via radio to inform him of the wreck and to tell him to slow down.

The truck Slezak was driving smashed into the back of a Ford Mustang, propelling that vehicle into the Toyota Corolla in front of it. This in turn pushed the Corolla forward and lodged it underneath another semi. This resulted in a fire that consumed both vehicles.

The Mustang was occupied by Christopher Schmidt, 30, while in the Corolla were his wife Diana Schmidt, 28, and their two children Samuel Schmidt, 3 and Connor Schmidt, 2. Diana was approximately 30 weeks pregnant with an unborn child named Ethan. Autopsies determined that the entire Schmidt family died as a result of blunt force trauma received during the crash.

Slezak was not injured in the crash and reportedly told a deputy on scene that he didn't see anything before the crash. Slezak reportedly claimed that he left his truck because he had heard a crash. An accident constructionist with the Nebraska State Patrol determined, after examining the scene, that there were no skid marks indicating that Slezak attempted to stop or slow down before hitting the Mustang.

The state determined that Slezak unintentionally caused the deaths of all those in the wreck while driving in a sleep-deprived state and had disregard for the safety of others.

Slezak picked up cargo on Sept. 8, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wis. He arrived late for pick up and left Milwaukee at around 3 p.m. on that day. He caused the wreck in Cheyenne County at 5:19 a.m. on Sept 9. He had traveled around 900 miles in this time frame, apparently without stopping to rest.

Slezak entered into a plea agreement with the state on Friday, waiving his rights to a trial.

The county recommended that Slezak be sentenced to no more than 20 years for his convictions, but the court is under no obligation to follow this recommendation. The family of the victims were consulted before the county entered into this agreement.

A translator was used by phone during these court proceedings because Slezak's native language is Czech. At this time the court plans to bring in the translator to Sidney for the sentencing hearing.

Slezak became visibly emotional while the translator read the charges against him.