As part of the plea agreement, Robert William Schlitts, of Traverse City, avoided facing a charge of manslaughter, which carries up to 15 years in prison.
Negligent homicide is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison.
Schlitts had originally been charged with negligent homicide. But at a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon, prosecutors were planning to try to convince District Judge Michael Haley that they had enough evidence to convict Schlitts of manslaughter. The difference between manslaughter and negligent homicide has to do with the level of a person's negligence. Deborah Graham, a mother of two daughters who worked as a dispatcher for a trucking company, died in the accident. Prosecutors allowed Schlitts to plead no contest instead of guilty because he has no memory of the accident, assistant prosecutor Robert Cooney said in court Thursday.