A former Nesquehoning police officer has pleaded guilty to causing a May 2014 crash that killed a woman and injured her husband.

Steven Homanko, 27, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and related charges in Carbon County Court on Tuesday.He admitted to causing the May 12, 2014, crash that killed 69-year-old Carola Sauers and injured her husband, Michael.Homanko was set to go to trial on the charges in October. However both his attorney and the prosecutor in the case had made pretrial motions that were set to be heard on Tuesday.Instead, the two sides told the judge in the case that they had reached a deal where Homanko would enter a guilty plea to the most serious charge in exchange for dropping other charges.He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of vehicular homicide, a felony.He also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment, failure to keep right and careless driving.In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop another felony charge of aggravated assault with a vehicle.Before accepting the plea, the judge in the case asked Homanko if he understood that he was giving away his right to a jury trial.“You understand you do not have to plead guilty, you are presumed to be innocent, and the commonwealth bears the burden of proof,” Senior Judge John J. Rufe said.Homanko, who has been out on bail since he was charged on May 6, left the courtroom silently with his attorney and his mother.Michael Sauers said that he was happy that the case is moving along.“I am just trying to get justice for my wife,” Sauers said.He sustained a broken hip and other injuries in the crash. But he said that trauma does not compare to the void left by his wife’s death.“The physical injuries are easy,” he said.During the hearing, prosecutor Anthony Forray recounted the details of the case.Investigators found that just before the crash Homanko’s police cruiser was estimated to be traveling 113 mph.Homanko said he was in pursuit of a vehicle that had committed a traffic violation. Forray said that the department had a policy where they did not engage in high-speed pursuit in cases that only involved a traffic violation.Homanko replied ‘yes’ when the judge asked him whether the facts were true.“We are guided by the vehicle code, which says that we do not have the right to operate at an unreasonable speed, regardless of the situation,” he said.Nesquehoning council placed Homanko on administrative leave the month of the incident, and officially fired him March 24.Rufe was brought in from Bucks County to hear the case, after all three Carbon County Common Pleas Court judges recused themselves from the case.Carbon County District Attorney Jean Engler also recused her office from the case.Cpl. Shawn Noonan of the Pennsylvania State Police, the arresting officer, said that for police officers, driving at a safe speed is a judgment call they must make every day.Sentencing for Homanko will be Oct. 12. Both sides are expected to make arguments at that time.