DRIVER ADMITS SMOKING POT, PLEADS GUILTY IN CRASH

RENO -- One of the first motorists charged under a new Nevada law
concerning marijuana use has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a
fatal July 2000 crash in Reno.

Robert McKellips, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of having
marijuana in his system when he ran a red light and crashed into a
car, killing Myra Ledezma-Martinez, 17, and her infant, Jennifer, and
injuring her husband, Luis Miguel Ledezma.

McKellips "has decided to accept responsibility for what he did," his
lawyer, Scott Freeman, said after the hearing in Washoe County
District Court.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 25. Each of the two counts carries a
maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of $10,000.

The 1999 law made it illegal to drive with a specified amount of
certain drugs. The law does not require authorities to prove the
driver was under the influence.

McKellips acknowledged smoking marijuana the day before the crash.
Tests showed he had 3 nanograms of marijuana's active ingredient,
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and 13 nanograms of a marijuana
metabolite in his system, prosecutors said.

The legal limit is 2 nanograms of THC and 5 nanograms of the
metabolite.

McKellips was driving with a suspended license when he hit the family
as they drove home from a shopping trip.

He was convicted as a juvenile of driving under the influence of
alcohol in 1998. It was his first DUI offense.