ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — A teenage driver whose passenger was killed in a wreck has pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence of intoxicants.
The News-Review reports 19-year-old Lejay Cole of Sutherlin reached a plea agreement Friday with Douglas County prosecutors — about a month after striking a mailbox and crashing into a ditch.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 10. According to court documents, he will likely receive five years in prison and a lifetime suspension of his driving license.
The crash happened Nov. 18 at about 3 a.m. The uninjured Cole told deputies he might have fallen asleep after he followed a long day of logging with seven beers over a four-hour period. His friend, 21-year-old Nathaniel Cagle, died in a hospital two days after the crash.