Truck driver sentenced to 4 years in triple-fatal Nevada crash

ELKO — A semi-truck driver who admitted he was speeding when he slammed into a car and tow truck on the side of a rural Northern Nevada highway apologized to the families of three victims before he was sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Samuel Rosenbaum, 54, of Abingdon, Virginia pleaded guilty in March to three counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2011 deaths of a Spokane, Washington couple, Michael and Marilyn Bogue, and Jesse Pengelly, the 20-year-old tow-truck driver from Wells.

Rosenbaum said he was running behind schedule when he ran into the back of a Buick Skylark and sent it flying into the tow truck along U.S. Highway 93 about 30 miles south of Wells.

Elko District Court Judge Al Kacin said Monday he’ll have to serve a minimum of 19 months before he’s considered for parole, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.

Pengelly’s parents, Jason Pengelly and Cherie Talbert, testified at the sentencing hearing. Talbert placed a photograph on the stand of her smiling son in a field wearing a brown jacket and cowboy hat.

“This is what you took away from us,” Talbert told Rosenbaum. She said she remembers when a doctor told them at the Salt Lake City hospital where he was in critical condition that he would not survive.

“It felt like it was the biggest punch to the stomach,” she said tearfully. “I lost my breath and wanted to fall to my knees.”

Talbert said they agreed to go along with the plea-bargain agreement reached in March because they didn’t want to relive the horror again at a trial.

“There isn’t enough prison time to make things better,” she said.

Rosenbaum apologized repeatedly during his testimony.

“I didn’t mean any of this,” he said. “I pray for these victims and their families. I do live with this for the rest of my life. I’m so sorry.”