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Porn-watching truck driver who killed Erie County mother given prison term

By Howard B. Owens

A truck driver who State Police say was looking a porn while on the Thruway in Pembroke just before his rig slammed into a disabled car, killing an Erie County mother, will spend three to nine years in prison.

Ohio resident Thomas Wallace sobbed prior to his sentencing by Judge Robert C. Noonan, reading a prepared letter of apology. The husband of 33-year-old Julie Stratton, as well as other family members, also read statements.

Wallace earlier entered a guilty plea to manslaughter in the second degree.

The 45-year-old trucker was driving on little sleep and watching a pornographic movie on his laptop computer when his truck hit Stratton's car. Stratton's car had only moments earlier hit a deer, causing it to stall in the passing lane. She was on the phone with Genesee County's 9-1-1 dispatcher when her car was struck.

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