Truck driver sentenced to 10 years for fatal 2014 wreck on I-55

SHARE Truck driver sentenced to 10 years for fatal 2014 wreck on I-55
espinal_quiroz_francisco.jpg

Francisco Espinal-Quiroz | Will County state’s attorney’s office

An Indiana truck driver has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for a wreck that killed five people on Interstate 55 near southwest suburban Channahon in 2014.

Francisco Espinal-Quiroz, 53, of Leesburg, Indiana, pleaded guilty in November 2016 to five counts of reckless homicide and one count of falsifying the record of his driving status, the Will County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement after sentencing on Thursday.

Espinal-Quiroz was driving a Freightliner semi trailer north about 2:15 p.m. on July 21, 2014 on I-55 in the southwest suburbs when he entered a construction zone where traffic had slowed to between 3 and 5 mph, prosecutors said.

Espinal-Quiroz had set his cruise control and was traveling at 65 mph when the entered the construction zone and struck a 2012 Kia Soul with Kimberly Britton, 43, Piper Britton, 11, and Timothy Osburn, 64, inside. Kimberly and Pipper Britton will killed in crash and Osburn died at a Chicago hospital 16 days later, the statement said.

Ulrike Blopleh, 48, who was a passenger in a 2000 Chevrolet Astrovan, and Vicky Palacios, 54, riding in a Dodge Avenger where also killed in the crash when their vehicles were struck by the semi, prosecutors said.

An investigation found Espinal-Quiroz began work at 2:30 a.m. that day in South Bend, Indiana, but had falsified his log book to state he started work at 6:15 a.m., prosecutors said.

The Latest
The lawsuit challenges Illinois’ counting of mail-in-ballots after election day, and has potential impact in this presidential election year.
Donald Trump is selling $60 Bibles, and if Jesus had not been resurrected, he most certainly would be rolling over in his grave.
Over the course of just six fast-paced episodes, Esposito creates a memorable character in this crime drama based on the BBC One series “The Driver.”
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee chair, said she’s disappointed that Johnson and his allies in the Chicago Teachers Union backed away from the fully elected, 21-member board he once supported. “This is not going to be as easy a transition as people think,” she said. “We’re used to a top-down system.”
Alex Caruso has been looking for a defensive showing like the one he and his teammates put on display in the win over the Pacers, but Caruso also knows it needs staying power. Could Javonte Green help that process moving forward?