Steven Eldridge
/ file photo
PENN YAN (AP) -- A western New York man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of drugs in a crash that killed six Amish farmers and injured eight others last July.
Yates County District Attorney Jason Cook announced Thursday that 42-year-old Steven Eldridge of Penn Yan pleaded guilty Wednesday to the most serious charges against him.
Cook says Eldridge will be sentenced March 20 to 12 to 24 years in prison.
Eldridge admitted he had taken cocaine and prescription drugs before the crash in Benton, 45 miles southeast of Rochester. He passed a large farm tractor on a curve and collided with a van carrying Amish farmers from Steuben County, who were on a farm tour.
The van crashed into the tractor. It took rescuers hours to remove victims.
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