STROUDSBURG — A jury Monday acquitted a man of vehicular homicide while driving drunk in a 2008 crash that killed a state lawmaker.

Jurors in Stroudsburg decided Thomas Senavitis was highly intoxicated but did not cause the crash on state Route 209 in the Poconos that killed state Sen. James Rhoades and seriously injured his wife.

Prosecutors alleged Senavitis, 46, of Kunkletown, had a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit for driving and that his pickup truck crossed a center line and hit Rhoades' Cadillac sedan.

Senavitis' attorney insisted it was Rhoades who caused the crash by drifting into the defendant's lane to avoid a minivan parked on the side of the road. He also questioned the reliability of the blood test performed on his client.

Senavitis was acquitted of homicide by vehicle while DUI, aggravated assault while DUI, and vehicular homicide. He was convicted of reckless endangerment and drunken driving charges.

Senavitis, who already has spent about nine months in jail, could get up to two years on the reckless endangerment charge, said his attorney, Wes Niemoczynski. Bail was denied pending sentencing.

The auto mechanic showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and he did not comment to reporters as he was led out of the courtroom. His wife, Dolores Senavitis, 45, told reporters the family was gratified by the verdict but her husband would appeal the convictions. Senavitis has denied being drunk.

"I'm happy about what happened," his wife said. "I'm surprised there was a nice, fair jury and they actually paid attention to what was going on."

Mary Edith Rhoades, who was seriously injured in the crash, thanked the jury and said her family accepted the verdict in a difficult case.

"No matter what happened, my husband, their dad and Poppa wasn't coming back, and nothing would change anything," she said.

Rhoades, a seven-term Republican from Schuylkill County who was running for re-election, was driving to a high school to pick up an award when the collision happened about dusk Oct. 17, 2008.

Niemoczynski argued Monday that Rhoades, likely tired after a full day of campaigning, caused the crash by drifting into the defendant's southbound lane.

"The laws of physics say that these vehicles met in the southbound lane," he told the jury.

Niemoczynski also questioned the reliability of the blood test performed on Senavitis, saying police and prosecutors wrongly portrayed his client as "all tanked up, driving in the wrong lane, not giving two hoots."

Prosecutors said the defense ignored certain crucial pieces of physical evidence that indicated the crash took place in Rhoades' lane.

"Mr. Senavitis chose to drive drunk and drive while he was incapable of properly operating a vehicle," Assistant District Attorney Colleen Mancuso said in her closing argument.