The driver of a tractor-trailer was watching a pornographic movie and had been on the road

too long when he smashed into a disabled car last month on the Thruway, killing the driver,

state police said Wednesday.

Thomas M. Wallace, 45, of Brook Park, Ohio, was charged with second-degree manslaughter

after an investigation into the Dec. 12 crash in Pembroke that killed Julie I. Stratton, a 33-

year-old Snyder resident and mother of two young boys.

Investigators determined that Wallace was driving on no more than four hours of sleep and

had been on duty for 27 hours prior to the fatal crash, in violation of federal regulations

that limit the hours of commercial drivers, State Police Capt. Michael Nigrelli said.

And testing of the laptop found in the cab of Wallace's rig showed that it was in use at

the time of the crash, likely causing a distraction, Nigrelli said.

"It's the culmination of all these factors brought together. We reached the conclusion that

he recklessly caused the death of Julie Stratton," he told The Buffalo News.

State police consulted with the Genesee County district attorney's office before bringing

charges against Wallace, a driver for Millis Transfer, a trucking company based in Wisconsin.

Wallace was arrested late Tuesday afternoon after he went to the State Police Thruway

barracks for a follow-up interview with investigators, Nigrelli said.

He was arraigned in Pembroke Town Court and committed to the Genesee County Jail in lieu of

$50,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond.

Stratton's vehicle was disabled at about 11:20 a.m. Dec. 12 after she hit a deer in the

westbound lanes of the Thruway, west of the Pembroke exit.

She was able to call 911, but the dispatcher didn't have time during the brief conversation

to relay any instructions, troopers said.

Stratton stayed in her vehicle, which remained in the roadway, for several minutes before

the tractor-trailer operated by Wallace smashed into the back of her car.

The investigation focused in part on why, according to state police, several drivers were

able to avoid Stratton's vehicle before Wallace crashed into it.

Investigators ruled out drug or alcohol use as factors. The weather was clear that day, and

that stretch of road is open, though the crash occurred at the top of a grade in the roadway.

State police found a laptop in the cab of Wallace's truck, within his reach.

Investigators sent the laptop to the Western New York Regional Computer Forensic Lab for

testing to see if the computer was running at the time of the crash.

State police say Wallace was streaming adult pornographic movies while operating his truck.

They also say Wallace had been on the road too long but was keeping fictitious log books to

cover his tracks.

Investigator John McCusker led the probe into the crash that killed Stratton, who worked

for many years at the Cantalician Center for Learning, which serves children with special

needs.

She and her husband, Michael, have two children: Sam, 3, and Ben, 1.

Stratton's family declined, through an attorney, to comment on the news of Wallace's

arrest.

"They're shocked and outraged," said their attorney, Francis M. Letro, who has conducted

his own investigation into the fatal crash.

They have established a Stratton Family Benefit Fund to provide support for the boys;

donations to the fund can be made at any KeyBank branch.