BLOOMINGTON—The bus driver responsible for a crash outside Bloomington which left three people dead and three others injured faces a lengthy prison sentence.
According to court records, a Monroe County judge sentenced 48-year-old Brian Hodges of New Albany to 14-years as part of a plea deal. Hodges avoided trial by pleading guilty to three counts of Causing Death When Operating a Motor Vehicle With a Controlled Substance, and one lesser charge.
54-year-old Rose Pettus, 30-year-old Shante Lewis and 30-year-old Orlando Lewis, all residents of Greenwood, died in the accident.
Hodges was driving a Miller Transportation passenger bus on July 22, 2017 when it crashed into a minivan on Old State Road 37 at the intersection of what is now I 69, causing a chain reaction. Traffic in front of the bus had stopped for a construction zone. Investigators determined the bus was going 65 miles-per-hour when it hit the van.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, tests showed Hodges has amphetamines and methamphetamine
in his system at the time of the crash.
