EVANS CITY — A Harmony man who was nearly three times the drunken driving limit when his truck crashed, killing his friend in the passenger’s seat, has been held for trial.

At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, District Judge Wayne Seibel held Alan J. Moser, 56, for trial on two charges — homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol, a second-degree felony that carries a mandatory state prison sentence of 3 to 6 years, and vehicular homicide.

Seibel also dismissed a charge of reckless driving and a charge dealing with open containers in Moser’s truck.

Moser next will be in court on April 6 in Butler.

The case stems from an accident Aug. 31 in Lancaster Township that happened less than 15 minutes after the two men left the Harmony Moose lodge.

Moser lost control of his truck while going around a bend along Route 19, hitting a retaining wall and several mailboxes before coming to rest.

Moser’s friend, 44-year-old Daniel Watson of Harmony, was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dennis McCurdy, Moser’s attorney from Harmony, said Tuesday morning that his client had all of his teeth removed and was suffering from a secondary infection at the time of the accident.

McCurdy said Moser had lost 26 pounds as a result of the infection, which could have contributed to Moser’s mental state on the day of the accident.

McCurdy called it a “very sad, very hard” case being that Moser and Watson were friends.

However, Assistant District Attorney Russ Karl said Moser had a blood-alcohol level around 0.22 percent after the accident, well over the legal limit of 0.08 percent.