[belpre122]

WESTVILLE, Ind. -- A Michigan truck driver walked out of prison a free man Friday after serving two years behind bars for the traffic deaths of four Taylor University students -- including one whose identity was mistaken -- and a university staff member.

Robert F. Spencer, Canton Township, near Detroit, was released Friday morning after completing a year in state prison for his convictions on charges of reckless homicide and criminal recklessness. Spokesman Doug Garrison of the Indiana Department of Correction confirmed the release.
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Spencer had served about a year in jail before his sentencing.

The case drew national attention when it was learned that a coroner had misidentified one of the dead students as one of five others who survived.

The daughters of Taylor employee Monica Felver, who died in the crash, said it was too soon for Spencer to be released.

"One second of him falling asleep, and we will suffer for the rest of our lives," Hope Beckley, Montpelier, and Amy Atkins and Kelly Montgomery, Hartford City, said in a statement released Thursday to the Hartford City News-Times.

"Him getting out after a year is a slap of more pain for us, but no time would ever have been enough time," the statement said. "He has sentenced all the families to a lifetime of hurt, loneliness and complete loss."

Investigators said Spencer had fallen asleep at the wheel after he had driven at least nine hours more than allowed under federal rules.

Spencer pleaded guilty last year and was given an eight-year prison sentence with four years suspended. Jay Circuit Judge Brian Hutchison could have sentenced Spencer to as much as 24 years in prison under a deal with prosecutors, but he noted Spencer's remorse and cooperation.

Spencer also received credit for good behavior and nearly a year already served in jail before he was sentenced in August 2007.

Later Friday, Spencer reported to the Jay County probation office and asked for his probation to be transferred to Michigan.

The judge also ordered the high school dropout, as conditions of his probation, to earn his GED within a year of his release from prison, to pay a $5,000 fine and to serve 100 hours of community service for each of the five lives he took. He also cannot drive professionally while on probation.

"I know I'll have to deal with this the rest of my life," Spencer said at his sentencing hearing.

Spencer's truck collided with the Taylor van about 10 miles from the Upland campus as students and staff were returning from Fort Wayne on April 26, 2006. Taylor is an evangelical Christian liberal arts school of 1,850 students about midway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.

A coroner misidentified one of the students killed -- Laura VanRyn, 22, Caledonia, Mich. -- as one of the survivors, then-19-year-old Whitney Cerak, Gaylord, Mich.

The mix-up wasn't discovered until VanRyn's family realized that the injured woman they thought was their recovering daughter actually was Cerak, whose family thought she had died in the crash. Cerak has since recovered and returned to school.

Also killed in the crash were students Bradley J. Larson, 22, Elm Grove, Wis.; Elizabeth A. Smith, 22, Mount Zion, Ill.; and Laurel E. Erb, 20, St. Charles, Ill.; and employee Felver, 54, Hartford City.

[TomB985]

Wow...haven't read about that in awhile....

Well, I'm gonna get flamed for saying this, but...I'm glad they didn't throw the book at the driver. Oh, don't get me wrong, what he did was inexcusable, and in no way, shape or form should he ever get behind the wheel of another CMV....but....it was an accident. Sure, he never should have been in that position, never should have violated the HOS, but it was still an accident.

Seems that often the "justice" system is looking more for retribution than anything else with things like these..... :?

[Snowman7]

Originally Posted by TomB985

Wow...haven't read about that in awhile....

Well, I'm gonna get flamed for saying this, but...I'm glad they didn't throw the book at the driver. Oh, don't get me wrong, what he did was inexcusable, and in no way, shape or form should he ever get behind the wheel of another CMV....but....it was an accident. Sure, he never should have been in that position, never should have violated the HOS, but it was still an accident.

Seems that often the "justice" system is looking more for retribution than anything else with things like these..... :?

:shock: Did you miss the part where he drove 9 hours past the HOS? That's not an accident.

[Malaki86]

Driving 9 HOURS OVER ON YOUR HOURS and killing people is NOT an accident... Sorry - that ratcrap pos should've spent the rest of his life behind bars.

[TomB985]

Ha....I knew I'd get those replies!

Sure, I agree...it is rediculous and negligent what he did...but locking someone away for life is nothing short of retribution...Regardless of how severe the sentence is, it will NEVER bring back those killed in the accident!


*** This part only is from TomB's wife. Before you all form your ideas about this from this post, you really should read the book. The family of the two girls whose identity was messed up wrote a book. I've read it. They give you details you aren't going to find any where else and they let you in your life when they didn't have too. Yes what happened was horrible and the guy who did it was being extremely irresponsible but read the book and see how the family has dealt with it. No matter if that guy spent the next 50 years in jail, its not going to change what happened and they realized this and its not going to bring their daughter back. Your going to say it would make the family feel better and thats what our jusitce system is for but thats not true. Yes our "justice" system is meant to "reform" people but your forgetting one major fact EVERYONE involved is NEVER going to forget what happened and he certainly is going to have to live with that GUILT for the rest of his life and thats far worse then spending 2 years in jail or 50. (btw, I'm not defending this guy at all, I agree with you what he did was wrong and stupid and being put away for some time was right but I also was a CRJ major and got to look at a whole new side of things....) ***

[Malaki86]

So, in your own words and thinking, we shouldn't lock up ANYONE for LIFE when they kill someone else, let alone as many as he did. Hell, get Ted Bundy out of prison - it was an accident that he killed people.

What about the families of those he killed? Sorry, if I was a father to one of the students killed and I just found out that the MURDERER was release after that short of time - well, I'd be doing some target practice on his ass.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Malaki86

So, in your own words and thinking, we shouldn't lock up ANYONE for LIFE when they kill someone else, let alone as many as he did. Hell, get Ted Bundy out of prison - it was an accident that he killed people.

What about the families of those he killed? Sorry, if I was a father to one of the students killed and I just found out that the MURDERER was release after that short of time - well, I'd be doing some target practice on his ass.

Hate to disappoint you....but Teddy was turned into worm bait by Florida many many moons ago!

I'd be shocked to hear that they buried him in a box!!!

[Snowman7]

Its called punishment and part of the idea is to deter others from committing the same crime. 1 year for a serious violation resulting in 5 deaths is a slap on the hand. What if he had been drunk instead? Would you still think a year is enough?

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by Snowman7

Its called punishment and part of the idea is to deter others from committing the same crime. 1 year for a serious violation resulting in 5 deaths is a slap on the hand. What if he had been drunk instead? Would you still think a year is enough?

See......Islam has this covered quite nicely.

Crime; Murder, Drugs or Rape.....Beheading.

Theft; Removal of offending hand.

Vandalism; Caning. 400 beats. Property owner gets first 50!!!

Now.....wouldn't that deter some crime??

[TomB985]

For anyone who cares to read the book, heres a link:


http://www.amazon.com/Mistaken-Ident.../dp/1416567356