A truck driver was sentenced to 22½ years in prison Thursday, Oct. 29, for killing a Dublin veterinarian, her husband and their baby on Interstate 71.

Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Marianne Hemmeter imposed the maximum sentence on Modou Ngom, 51, of Columbus, ordering consecutive terms on all eight counts, according to the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office, as reported by the Columbus Dispatch. Ngom received five years on each of three aggravated vehicular homicide counts and 18 months on each of five vehicular assault counts.

The April 11 crash killed Dr. Lynnea Soposki, 36, a veterinarian at Muirfield Animal Hospital in Dublin; her husband, Luke Soposki, 37, an analytical chemist; and their 1-year-old son, Logan. The family lived in Ashley in Delaware County.

Hemmeter told Ngom he turned I-71 into a "war zone" and caused a collision that was avoidable, WOSU reported. "All you had to do was apply your brakes, look up," the judge said.

"You wiped out an entire family," Hemmeter said, according to NBC4.

Before the sentence was handed down, Ngom said he was praying for the people who lost their lives, calling it a "terrible, terrible accident," WOSU reported.

Prosecutors accused Ngom of "making up lies" during his testimony about what happened in April, NBC4 reported. Defense attorneys argued Ngom had taken responsibility for the crash and disputed only "the degree of culpability."

What happened on April 11

The crash occurred just before 6:30 p.m. on northbound I-71 near the U.S. 36 and state Route 37 interchange in a construction zone. The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) said Ngom's semitruck failed to stop for traffic backed up in the zone, hitting several stopped vehicles from behind. The Soposki family's vehicle caught fire. The Dispatch reported five other people were seriously injured, though earlier reports from the OSHP said three people were injured in addition to the three deaths.

A jury convicted Ngom on Sept. 25 after a four-day trial. Jurors watched Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) camera footage of the crash.

OSHP investigators testified that no skid marks indicated Ngom applied his brakes before the collision. They also testified nothing blocked his view of the vehicles ahead. Ngom told investigators he had been traveling about 25 mph, but an OSHP sergeant said the damage to the front of the truck did not support that claim. The state's crash reconstruction indicated the vehicle that first struck the Soposkis' car was traveling about 63 mph.

A witness testified she saw Ngom's truck moving erratically for miles before the crash, describing it as "fish tailing." Defense attorneys told jurors the truck may have been swaying because it was carrying 20 pallets of bottled water.

Family speaks in court

Lynnea Soposki's brother, Jesse Mallen, delivered a victim impact statement Oct. 29. He addressed Ngom's family with compassion but had no such words for the defendant, NBC4 reported.

"Your poor family is pouring their hearts out awash with remorse and I haven't seen an ounce from you," Mallen said.

Dr. Soposki graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2016 and joined Muirfield Animal Hospital, where her professional interests included feline and geriatric care, according to the hospital's memorial page.

Relatives of the Soposkis and another woman injured in the crash have filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Ngom, who owned his trucking company, the Dispatch reported.