Chad E. Mergelmeyer, 29, of the 600 block of E. Main St., will be sentenced by Judge Keith Sutherland Aug. 4. Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wright said Mergelmeyer could receive up to 30 years in prison for the Class B felony. Most of last week's trial centered around whether Chad Mergelmeyer was the driver of the Chevrolet S-10 pickup. Chad's brother, Gary Mergelmeyer, 43, was a passenger. He was pronounced dead at the scene. "There was a lot of circumstantial evidence that proved he (Chad) was behind the wheel," Wright said. According to police reports and testimony, Chad Mergelmeyer was driving a Chevrolet S-10 pickup westbound on Route D when he lost control and ran off the highway on the left side. When the pickup left the roadway it overturned ejecting Chad Mergelmeyer out of the driver's side window. When emergency personnel responded to the scene, they located Chad Mergelmeyer lying near the driver's side window. They also said Gary Mergelmeyer's legs remained in the passenger side area while his upper body was thrown into the driver's area. Chad Mergelmeyer told personnel on the scene no one was with him in the vehicle, but later recanted when questioned after he was airlifted to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, according to police. He told officers he was heading home, but then paused for about a 10- to 15-second period until blurting out that "I wasn't driving." "He knew exactly what was going on," Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Kroeger stated. Chad Mergelmeyer's blood alcohol level was .301 - nearly four times the legal limit - when tested at the hospital, according to lab results provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. At the scene, Mergelmeyer's blood alcohol level was .18. The legal limit in Missouri is .08. Sgt. Michael Mahon, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol reconstruction team, filed a 35-page report after the accident and concluded that Chad Mergelmeyer had to be the driver since he was believed to be next to the window opening. Dr. Stanley Sakabu also testified that Chad Mergelmeyer's injuries were consistent to a driver hitting the steering wheel. Chad's mother, Donna Mergelmeyer, took the stand Friday and testified she didn't know who the driver was. However in July 2008, she received a $25,000 insurance settlement after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Chad. She testified then that she believed Chad was the driver. During questioning by Wright last week, Donna Mergelmeyer said she assumed Chad was the driver because of the numerous police reports filed. "I did testify under oath, but I got a letter from the insurance company saying I was entitled to it (the settlement)," she said. However, several others testified that they rarely saw Gary drive. He had lost his driver's license a few years earlier and was either picked up for work or walked around town. The state also played excerpts from three phone conversations Mergelmeyer had with his mother made from the Warren County Jail that Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Kroeger argued indicated Chad was lying about who was driving. In one, Chad told his attorney Gary was driving, prompting his mother to ask how he knew that. Chad responded, "I don't but that is what I told him." Mergelmeyer's attorneys, Public Defenders Milan Berry and Richard Scheibe, argued that there was no way to prove who was driving since there were no witnesses. They alleged that the brothers must have been thrown around the damaged cab and switched places while the truck was flipping, allowing Chad to be near the opening of the driver's side window. "There are no answers," Berry said during closing arguments. "Sometimes things happen and it's an accident." Chad Mergelmeyer is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green after his probation was revoked for a 2003 incident involving a second-degree domestic assault. His prison sentence began in October 2005. His probation also was revoked in 2005 for second-degree burglary and stealing from a 2003 incident. A five-year prison sentence has been suspended, according to court records. The trial began Thursday afternoon following jury selection and wrapped up Friday afternoon. The jury deliberated nearly three hours before returning the guilty verdict.