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‘Bachelor’ Alum Chris Soules Facing 2 Years In Prison After Pleading Guilty In Fatal Car Crash Case
The former reality star was involved in a car crash last April that left a 66-year-old veteran dead.
“Bachelor” alum Chris Soules entered a guilty plea this week in connection to a fatal car crash that took one man’s life.
Soules, the Iowa farmer who starred in the reality program’s 19th season, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury, People reports. He faces up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $6,250, and he is scheduled to appear in front of a judge for sentencing on January 8.
The plea is conditional, his attorney, Gina Messamer, said in a statement obtained by E! News, and she explained that the prosecutor has reduced the charge down to a misdemeanor.
“This misdemeanor charge carries a penalty ranging between a deferred judgment and no jail time up to two years’ incarceration... The basis for Mr. Soules’ guilty plea is that he failed to provide his registration information to law enforcement or 911 dispatch as required by Iowa law,” the statement said.
In exchange for Soules’ guilty plea, he has requested that the court “order a confidential presentence investigation report (PSI) be completed in advance of sentencing and this document will be provided to the State and to [Soules],” according to People.
Soules, 37, was arrested in his home state of Iowa in April 2017 after he was accused of getting into a car collision that left 66-year-old Vietnam veteran Kenneth Mosher dead, People reports.
The reality TV star was reportedly driving a pickup truck when he crashed into the rear of a tractor being driven by Mosher; the collision sent both vehicles into ditches on the side of the road. Mosher later died in the hospital from his injuries, according to the outlet.
Though Soules called 911 following the crash, he reportedly fled before police arrived.
Police later located Soules and his vehicle at a house; the reality TV star reportedly would not leave the home, forcing police to secure a search warrant, People reports.
He spent a few hours in police custody before posting $10,000 bond, securing his release, according to the outlet.
Soules addressed the situation in a statement shared by his representative shortly after his release from jail.
“Chris Soules was involved in an accident Monday evening (April 24) in a rural part of Iowa near his home,” the statement, obtained by People, said. “He was devastated to learn that Kenneth Mosher, the other person in the accident, passed away. His thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Mosher’s family.”
Soules initially entered a not guilty plea to one charge of leaving the scene of a deadly accident in May 2017, and later sought to have the charge dismissed altogether.
[Photo: Chris Soules sits during a hearing in Buchanan County District Court in Independence, Iowa on November 27, 2017. By Rodney White/The Des Moines Register via the Associated Press]
