Driver pleads guilty in fatal 2010 crash that killed soldier

Anthony Mancheski of Maplewood pleads guilty in a four-car accident in Hastings that killed a Minnesota soldier. (Courtesy of Ramsey County jail)

A Maplewood man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a four-car accident in 2010 that killed a soldier.

Anthony Lloyd Mancheski, 21, entered his guilty plea Thursday in Washington County District Court.

Mancheski was charged in August with one count of criminal vehicular homicide - more than a year after the May 3, 2010, fatal crash on U.S. 61 just north of the Mississippi River bridge in Hastings. He initially was issued a misdemeanor careless-driving citation, but prosecutors had it dismissed in favor of the felony charge.

Investigators said Mancheski, who was 19 at the time, caused the crash because he was driving almost 90 mph and aggressively passing other motorists, which caused him to lose control of his BMW. He hit two vehicles while crossing into oncoming traffic, where his car collided with a semitrailer.

The 6:30 a.m. collision mangled a Saturn sedan and instantly killed its driver, Brian J. Jacobson, 34, of Lake City, Minn. Jacobson was a 1993 graduate of Red Wing High School and a member of the Minnesota National Guard. He served two tours in Iraq as part of the 434th Chemical Company.

Mancheski's attorney, Shawn Betts, said Thursday that he and his client discussed the plea deal offered by prosecutors over recent weeks. "Ultimately, he decided this was the best way to go," Betts said.

The alternative would have been a jury trial.

"It's generally understood that if you go to trial and lose, you face the high end of sentencing,

which in this case would have been prison time," Betts said, noting that a trial would have been emotionally difficult for everyone, including the victim's family.

As part of the deal, Mancheski likely will be awarded a stay of imposition, meaning his felony conviction will be downgraded to a misdemeanor if he completes the court's conditions, including 10 years of probation, Betts said.

A judge ultimately will determine the extent of those conditions. It's unclear how much, if any, jail time Mancheski will serve.

His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 24.

Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-228-5162. Follow her at twitter.com/LizMohr.