Driver in Tracy Morgan crash pleads guilty, avoids prison time

Kevin Roper, who is accused of causing a crash that injured Tracy Morgan and killed another man, appeared in Middlesex County Superior Court on Tuesday.

NEW BRUNSWICK -- The former Wal-Mart truck driver who authorities say caused a June 2014 crash that severely injured Tracy Morgan and killed fellow comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair accepted a plea deal Tuesday that will allow him to avoid prison. 

Kevin Roper, 37, of Jonesboro, Ga., pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and four counts of aggravated assault in the June 7, 2014, crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in February.

As part of the plea agreement, Roper will be entered into a three-year pre-trial intervention program. Once he completes the program, which includes 300 hours of community service, the charges against him will be dismissed. 

Had Roper not been offered PTI, he would have faced up to 30 years in prison. Roper must complete the community service, remain employed, pay his fines and not commit another offense to finish the PTI program. 

Roper, who wore khakis, a gray suit jacket and a gold tie, only spoke in the courtroom when his attorney, David Glassman, asked him a series of questions about the crash. He answered the questions with a faint "yes" response. 

Roper acknowledged that he continued to drive a Wal-Mart tractor-trailer after having been awake from June 6, 2014, into June 7, 2014. Neither Glassman or Roper specified a time period in which the former driver was awake. However, Roper admitted he continued to drive the truck while feeling fatigued and even after passing a Turnpike rest area in Cranbury. 

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Glassman said Roper is "extremely thankful" for the plea deal.  

"It gives him an opportunity to go forward with his life without a conviction if he does what he's supposed to do," he said. "It puts his future in his own hands. He's led an exemplary life up until that one mistake. And, assuming it's going to go forward like that, he has his destiny in his own hands ... and he won't have a record." 

The early morning crash killed McNair, 62, and seriously injured Morgan, 48, and fellow comedians Ardie Fuqua, Harris Stanton and Morgan's assistant Jeff Millea.

Middlesex County First Assistant Prosecutor Sheree Pitchford told Superior Court Judge Michael Toto she was able to make contact with representatives of McNair's estate and that they approve of the plea agreement. Pitchford said she did not receive a response from a representative of Morgan. 

But, in an interview with Conan O'Brien earlier this month, Morgan said he has since forgiven Roper.

"I'm not even mad at him anymore," Morgan said, before delivering a joke about how his "white neighbors" now resent Roper because they have to deal with Morgan.

Authorities have said Roper had not slept for more than 28 hours when he failed to slow down in a construction work zone near exit 8A in Cranbury and crashed into a limousine bus.

A report from the National Transportation Safety Board determined driver fatigue caused the collision, which involved six vehicles and 21 people. Glassman previously said that the NTSB did not have all of the facts when it announced its findings.

The report's findings, however, fueled a federal debate on the need to change restrictions on commercial drivers. 

Wal-Mart reached a $10 million settlement with McNair's two children in January 2015. Four months later, the retail giant also settled a lawsuit with Morgan, but the amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

According to a report from TMZ, Wal-Mart was reimbursed the amount in the Morgan settlement by its insurance company, XL Insurance America. Representatives from both companies did not return requests for comment.

Morgan, who has since returned to the stage in his "Picking up the Pieces" comedy tour, paid tribute to McNair in a tweet posted on Oct. 2. 

RIP Jimmy Mac. Today is his birthday. I love and miss you my brother! pic.twitter.com/mweJkEmGKs

-- Tracy Morgan (@RealTracyMorgan) October 2, 2016