No prison for downstate trucker

CLAYTON, Mo. -- An Illinois trucker who authorities blame for a chain-reaction accident on a Missouri freeway near St. Louis has avoided prison time.

Fifty-four-year-old Edmond Contestabile Junior of Collinsville, Illinois, entered an Alford plea Monday in St. Louis County to charges of leaving an accident scene and careless and imprudent driving.

Under such a plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have sufficient evidence for a conviction.

Investigators say Contestabile clipped a car last October on Interstate 270, setting off related crashes that left numerous injuries and snarled traffic for hours.

Contestabile received a suspended five-year prison term.