Truckers may not drive for more than 11 hours a day without resting for 10 consecutive hours, according to federal safe-driving statutes.
"This is to ensure that truck drivers operate their multi-ton trucks in a safe, unimpaired manner to protect the public from trucking-related accidents on the nation's highways," U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said.
In 2009, Belovs pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in Montgomery County Court, and he served prison time last year in the death of businessman David Schreffler, 49, the father of three.
Schreffler's passenger, Joseph John Maylish, of Media, was seriously injured but has returned to work.
Belovs told police that he knew the 18-wheeler he was driving was uninspected, despite its current inspection sticker, and that he should have pulled the rig over when its brakes began to fail.
"First thing, it is my fault," he told investigators, according to court papers. "I push brake. I push brake . . . and kept rolling, rolling."
Two other defendants - the truck inspector who provided the false sticker and the truck's owner - were convicted and served prison time in the case.
In the truck's cab, investigators found two sets of logs. The first reflected Belovs' actual driving; the second was rigged to conceal the fact that he was driving too long before the required rest.
On Jan. 22, the day before the accident, the false log said he was in the truck's sleeper berth in Wyetheville, Va., when, in fact, he was driving to Carlisle, Pa.
If convicted, Belovs could face jail time and a fine of $3.75 million, Memeger said.
Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or bcook@phillynews.com.
