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Jury convicts Hoosier truck driver of falsifying log

MADISON, Wis. — Two years after an Indiana truck driver was found innocent of criminal charges in a fatal bus crash that killed five people in western Wisconsin, a federal jury Wednesday convicted him of falsifying his driver's log.

A jury of six men and six women found Michael Kozlowski of Schererville, Ind., guilty of 20 counts of making false entries in his trucking log. Each conviction carries up to five years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb set sentencing July 24, Deputy Clerk of Courts Joanne Friedl said. The jury deliberated about six hours following a two-day trial before returning the verdicts, she said.

Prosecutors said Kozlowski, now 26, was driving his semitrailer truck when his log claimed he was sleeping.

Kozlowski's attorney, Eric J. Wilson, did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday seeking comment on the verdict.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the crash on Oct. 16, 2005, that killed five and injured 28 on Interstate 94 near Osseo determined Kozlowski fell asleep at the wheel and began to drift off the shoulder. When he swerved back onto the road, the rig overturned. The bus then plowed into the truck.

The bus was carrying 44 members of the Chippewa Falls High School marching band, teachers and chaperones home from a competition in Whitewater. Kozlowski's semi was hauling groceries from Indiana to Minnesota in the early morning darkness.

The crash killed 78-year-old bus driver Paul Rasmus, band director Doug Greenhalgh, his wife Therese, their granddaughter Morgan and student teacher Branden Atherton.

State prosecutors charged Kozlowski with several crimes, including five counts of negligent homicide, claiming he was "excessively fatigued" because he drove on little sleep and should not have been behind the wheel.

A jury in 2007 acquitted him of any wrongdoing following a two-week trial.

Kozlowski's attorney argued then that the young driver's only mistake was driving too fast when he tried to pull over to the side of the road to relieve himself. He blamed the crash on Rasmus, claiming the bus driver was overtired and should have seen the overturned truck but didn't because of vision problems. Rasmus wasn't wearing his glasses, as required on his driver's license, testimony showed.

Jerry Breeden of The Trucker staff may be reached for comment at [email protected]