Apr 9, 2022 4 min read

Citing the “grave circumstances” surrounding the deadly hit-and-run accident on Interstate 70 in Washington County last year, Judge Gary Gilman sentenced the Virginia trucker who struck a man on the side of the highway to a jail term above the mandatory minimum.

Hosea Holcomb IV was sentenced Friday to serve 3½ to 7 years in jail after the truck driver was convicted by Gilman in January on felony charges of accident involving death and homicide by vehicle following a non-jury trial in Washington County Court.

Holcomb, 29, of Emporium, struck and killed John Marvin Isenberg III on Jan. 11, 2021, as he was kneeling beside his disabled tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of I-70 in Fallowfield Township near the Mon-Fayette Expressway interchange.

Isenberg, 33, of Toronto, Ohio, died at the scene following the accident, and Gilman determined that Holcomb was falling asleep at the wheel when he drifted onto the shoulder and struck him. Gilman also decided that Holcomb should have stopped his rig to see what happened rather than driving another 12 miles down the highway before state police stopped him near Smithton.

“This case and one other case are the two by far that have been the most impactful on me,” Gilman said. “And that’s because, one, unfortunately someone lost their life and, two, it was an accident.”

While the mandatory minimum sentence for the accident involving death count was 3 to 6 years, Gilman noted that Holcomb admitted in a pre-sentence investigation interview that he had been fired from a previous trucking job in 2016 because he fell asleep behind the wheel and drove the vehicle off the roadway.

“The defendant found himself in this situation before and should have known better,” Gilman said.

Isenberg’s mother, Michelle Watson, told Holcomb that he was driving a “deadly weapon” on the highway and that his actions have caused great pain to her family.

“Everyone makes a mistake, but this wasn’t a mistake. You don’t hit someone and leave,” Watson said. “That one second changed our lives and (Holcomb’s) life forever.”

The victim’s sister, Jessica Campbell, told the court about how the family misses the man they called “Boog.”

“He had the biggest heart. He loved anything with two wheels, animals, his family and driving trucks,” Campbell said. “My brother deserved so much more than to be hit and left there.”

Holcomb apologized to Isenberg’s family while also maintaining that he did not know he had hit someone. He said he knew he was tired that morning, so he attempted to take a 45-minute power nap in Washington to refresh himself, but did not realize he was still falling asleep after he left the brief stop.

“Your family circle was broken,” Holcomb told Isenberg’s relatives. “I know your family is suffering.”

His defense attorney, Michael Waltman, initially asked Gilman to reconsider the accident involving death conviction, which the judge denied. Waltman later asked the judge to consider the 24 reference letters included in the pre-sentence investigation vouching for Holcomb’s character that he hoped would lead to a shorter sentence.

“I truly believe Mr. Holcomb did not know he was in an accident that morning. This is not a bad guy. He’s done something every other driver has done,” Waltman said, alluding to driving while tired.

Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann, who prosecuted the case, acknowledged that Holcomb appeared to be a good person, but his actions had deadly consequences.

“But for Mr. Holcomb falling asleep on the highway, we are not here today,” Friedmann said. “Mr. Holcomb and Mr. Isenberg were in the same profession. That could have been him on the side of the road.”

Waltman said he planned to appeal and asked the judge to allow Holcomb to remain free during that process. Gilman agreed to let Holcomb wait two weeks to report to the Washington County jail in order to give time for Waltman to file the appeal. Holcomb has been free on $250,000 unsecured bond after spending nearly three weeks in jail immediately after the accident.