WAUKESHA, Wis. — A plea agreement has been reached in the case of Walter Cunningham, a Hartland man accused of taking students on a dangerous bus ride and leaving them on the side of the road.
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Cunningham, 72, was charged with 28 felony counts of recklessly endangering safety — one count for each child on the bus and one for the parent who got on it. He also faces an operating-while-intoxicated charge.
In a letter to the court, Cunningham's attorney, Anthony Cotton, said a plea agreement had been reached in which Cunningham will enter an Alford no-contest plea to an operating-while-intoxicated charge, with the remaining 28 counts of recklessly endangering safety to be dismissed.
Watch: Plea agreement reached in case of Hartland bus driver accused of leaving students on roadside
"The charges brought against Walter paint a picture of someone who endangered children through reckless conduct," Cotton stated in the letter. "Nothing could be further from the truth. Walter was a beloved bus driver for many years and he treasured the times he spent with the children on his normal route. Walter had no alcohol in his system and no illegal drugs. The only two substances in his system were his prescribed anti-depressant (an a nonquantified amount) and Mucinex DM (dextromethorphan). The children were never put in harms way with Walter driving the bus that day."
According to Cotton, the defense is agreeing to an Alford plea "because there is strong support for innocence as outlined in the defense pharmacological report..." noting that the report was consistent with Cunningham taking Mucinex "according to its instructions."
The state will recommend 60 days in jail, while Cotton is asking for the minimum sentence: a $350 fine and a 12-month driver's license revocation.
A date for the plea hearing has not yet been set.
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