Prosecutors say he should have never been behind the wheel in the first place, and that a surveillance tape seems to back that up.
Thirty-seven-year-old Frederick Poust had little to say Tuesday afternoon at the end of his first court hearing in Gilbertsville.
Poust, a school bus driver for the Perkiomen Valley School District, is seen in surveillance video cutting right in front of an oncoming vehicle resulting in a terrible collision.
The driver of the car was badly injured. The passenger, 27-year-old Richard Taylor of Gilbertsville, was killed.
Taylor's family was on hand for today's hearing when prosecutors said Poust had no business being behind the wheel of a school bus carrying 45 children.
Assistant DA Christopher Maloney says Poust, by his own admission, barely slept the night before the accident and Poust can be seen on the surveillance video talking on the phone and listening to music while he blows through a total of ten stop signs before the deadly collision. The accident happened right outside Perkiomen Valley Middle School West.
Poust is being represented by prominent Philadelphia defense attorney Brian McMonigle who decided not to speak to us about the case. Poust faces a slew of charges including homicide by vehicle and reckless endangerment.
If convicted on all counts, Poust could be sentenced to more than 70 years in prison.
The case was held over for trial. The next hearing will be an arraignment set for June 9th.
