Semi-truck driver sent to prison for drug fueled fatal crash
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ST. ANTHONY — A semi-truck driver who killed another trucker while under the influence of drugs is going to prison.
Scott M. Roper was sentenced on Thursday to four to 15 years in prison. Roper previously pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter. He was driving a 2007 Kenworth semi-truck on June 8, 2020, on U.S. Highway 20 near St. Anthony when he crossed the center line and killed 73-year-old Joseph Sturgeon, an experienced semi-truck driver.
Roper pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement with Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake. The agreement said attorneys would recommend he spend up to 15 years in prison but District Judge Steven Boyce was free to give more or less time.
In addition to the prison sentence, Boyce ordered Roper to pay $1,745.50 in fees and fines. Once released from prison, his driver’s license will be suspended for two years.
Idaho State Police reports show that when Roper crossed the center line, he first hit a 2020 Kenworth semi-truck driven by 61-year-old Weyland Schenk, Jr. Schenk then hit 42-year-old Adrian Mendez Gomez, who was behind Roper in a 2006 Ford F150.
Roper went back into his lane, then crossed over again into the eastbound lane where he hit Sturgeon, who was driving a 2009 Peterbilt semi-truck.
When first responders arrived, they found Sturgeon had died in the crash.
A trooper reported that investigators found a half-full whiskey bottle in the cab of Roper’s truck and a green bottle filled with various pills.
Gomez was taken to Madison Memorial Hospital and an Air Idaho Rescue helicopter flew Roper to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
When speaking with troopers at the hospital, Roper said he did not remember anything from the crash and only recalled hauling a load of grain from Ashton to Pocatello. Investigators took a blood draw and sent it to the State Crime Lab for testing.
Multiple witnesses at the Ashton grain elevator where Roper had been before the crash said he was acting abnormally. According to court documents, one worker reported Roper seemed to be in a hurry.
Additional witnesses along Highway 20 reported Roper forced several other vehicles off the road miles before the crash.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, results from the blood test showed amphetamine, methamphetamine, clonazepam, cyclobenzaprine, diazepam and nordiazepam in Roper’s system.
Roper was arrested and charged in September 2020 following ISP’s investigation.
Roper has a history of issues while driving. He has multiple misdemeanor citations for carrying loads over the weight limits set under Idaho Law. Roper was also accused of a hit-and-run crash while driving a semi-truck in Aug. 2020, but Bingham County prosecutors dismissed the case for unknown reasons.
In 2018, Roper was placed on probation for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of medication without a prescription and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.