Cedar Rapids man gets 17-year prison sentence in 2012 fatal crash  

CEDAR RAPIDS - A 33-year-old Cedar Rapids man pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide Thursday and will serve up to 17 years in prison in the death of Jenniffer Hopkins in 2012.

Jeremy Rud pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide - reckless driving as a habitual felon and leaving the scene of an injury accident. He was sentenced to up to 17 years in prison with a mandatory of three years before being eligible for parole.

Rud has been in jail since November 2012, so it's possible he could be paroled in less than a year.

According to the criminal complaint, Rud was driving recklessly on Nov. 25, 2012, near the intersection of 16th Avenue and 11th Street SW, when he unintentionally caused the death of Hopkins, 30, his passenger. She was ejected from the vehicle as it collided with another car. Hopkins died at the scene.

Rud sped through two stop signs before hitting the other vehicle driven by Mark McDowell, according to the complaint. Four children in McDowell's vehicle had minor injuries from the crash. Witnesses told police Rud left the scene. He wasn't arrested until the next day, so police didn't have any evidence of possible intoxication.

Hopkins' mother, Sandy Maish of Cedar Rapids, told KCRG-TV9 after Rud was charged that he and her daughter were friends and he was giving her a ride home. Maish said her daughter "was just two and a half blocks from home when the accident happened." She added that Rud also was blocks from his home.

Rud has previous convictions for three drunken driving charges, fourth-degree theft and eluding, according to online court records.

Rud's trial had been delayed several times since 2012, including in 2014, when he was sent to the Iowa Medical Classification Center in Coralville for a mental evaluation in June. Court proceedings were suspended until February, when he was found competent to stand trial.