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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man pleaded guilty Monday to causing a crash that killed the founder of Siegfried's Deli.
Daniel Levert, 21, pleaded guilty to reduced charges of automobile homicide, a third-degree felony and obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor.
Additional charges of drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, both class B misdemeanors, and failure to yield, an infraction, were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Levert was originally charged with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony, in the April 19 crash that killed Siegfried Meyer, 69, who ran the popular German delicatessen downtown.
Meyer operated the Siegfried's Deli for 33 years after buying it in 1972, according to his obituary.
Meyer was riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when Levert "swerved in front of another eastbound car going very fast," hitting Meyer in the intersection of 2100 South and 600 West, according to charging documents.
After the crash, witnesses saw Levert "get out of the vehicle and attempt to hide a baggie of marijuana," the charges state. He also admitted Monday to trying to hide an apple he had used to smoke the marijuana.
Meyer died two days later of critical head injuries.
In plea documents, Levert admitted to being "under the influence of marijuana to a degree that rendered him incapable of safely operating a vehicle."
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12. Levert faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison for the automobile homicide charge.
