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Truck driver sentenced to prison after guilty plea
Friday, June 29, 2012
BELLEFONTE - Centre County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bradley Lunsford sentenced Cenk Esenbel to a total of 15-30 months in a state correctional institution plus two years consecutive probation on charges of homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death while not properly licensed, involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person and multiple summary violations, after an open plea of guilty.
On Oct. 21, Esenbel was operating a tractor-trailer when he crashed into the rear of a tri-axel dump truck driven by Kyle Royer, pushing him off the road and killing him. It was Royer's first day on the job when his life was taken in the crash. At the time of the crash, Esenbel had been operating on a suspended license, was driving a tractor-trailer that was 6,000 pounds overweight, and had defective brakes that had insufficient braking capacity.
The reconstruction indicated that Esenbel never tried to hit his brakes. At the time of the crash, he was also found to have been driving with other mechanical defects that were noted on two previous inspections, and had failed to maintain a logbook, as he was required to do by law. In addition, Esenbel had been driving for more than 40 hours with only short breaks during the preceding 20-hour period, in violation of the law.
District attorney Stacy Parks Miller stated, "While no sentence ever seems adequate in these cases, we are pleased that the judge sentenced him to an aggravated sentence in light of the reckless choices he made, which caused this death. The family showed great dignity and grace when speaking about their loss and I hope this brings them some measure of peace today."
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