SIDNEY — The man driving the semitrailer involved in a fatal motorcycle accident last August entered a no contest plea in Shelby County Common Pleas Court on Monday.

John Alexander Coyle, 56, of Kokomo, Indiana, was indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on Thursday, Sept. 10 on one count of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of failure to stop after an accident, both third-degree felonies.

He was accused of failing to stop at a stop sign, on the afternoon of Aug. 7, while traveling east on Kirkwood Road at the intersection of County Road 25-A, causing a motorcycle, which was traveling north on County Road 25A, to hit at about the middle of the 53-foot trailer Coyle was driving.

The motorcyclist, who died at the scene, was 39-year-old Shawn Hill, of Piqua.

Coyle also failed to stop after the accident and was pulled over by Sidney Police in the 100 block of West Court Street in downtown Sidney. Initial reports indicated Coyle didn’t realize an accident had even occurred.

According to court documents, as part of his plea agreement count two will remain the same, but count one will be amended to vehicular manslaughter, which is a second-degree misdemeanour, and there will be a joint recommendation of community control.

No contest is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty or not guilty.

Coyle is facing up to a maximum prison term of 90 days on count one and 36 months on count two, which by law would run concurrently. For both counts he could face up to a $10,750 fine, but neither a fine or prison term is mandatory.

His driver’s license could also be suspended for a period of time between six months and three years. His community control would be a discretionary three years as determined by the parole board.

He is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing Aug. 19, at 1:30 p.m.