Iowan gets 5 years in crash death of Minnesota man

Published 9:17 am Thursday, July 19, 2012

GARNER, Iowa  — A motorist who hit and killed a Minnesota man on a bicycle in northern Iowa has been given up to five years in prison.

Forty-year-old Travis Thomas, of Floyd, pleaded guilty on May 8 to involuntary manslaughter and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He was sentenced on Tuesday in Hancock County District Court.

Thomas also was ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to the victim’s family.

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Thomas was convicted in the death of 60-year-old Randy “Railroad Randy” Nomeland, of Minneapolis, in July 2011. Thomas was driving a sport utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 18 near Britt when he hit Nomeland.

Nomeland’s brother, Tim Nomeland, said Randy rode the rails as a hobo from 1981 to 2001 and then started riding his bicycle.