A Julian man will face up to seven years in prison after he was convicted Friday of killing a pedestrian and fleeing the scene of the accident last January.

Jack M. Chencharick, of 1300 Steele Hollow Road, was convicted of hitting Leon Shee Sin, 68, from behind at about 10:30 p.m. Jan. 30 as Sin walked home from work on North Atherton Street.

After an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury of nine men and three women read the verdict to Chencharick, who showed no emotion. Neither Chencharick nor his lawyer stayed to comment after the trial.

Centre County Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall said he hopes the guilty verdict will give some sense of justice to the Sin family and the people of Centre County.

Sin was walking home from work at Wegmans, 345 Lowes Blvd., when Chencharick struck him in front of Kentucky Fried Chicken, 2020 N. Atherton St., severing his aorta and breaking his back, skull and pelvis, according to court documents.

Chencharick, who took the stand in his own defense, said his vehicle "bobbled" as if it had hit a pothole or a drainage ditch.

"It never occurred to me to go back and check what it was," he said.

Sgt. John Walters of the Patton Township Police Department, an accident investigator, testified that sometimes when vehicles reach speeds above 20 mph, an object that is struck will fly into the windshield and land behind the vehicle. In this case, he said, because of the truck's height and the victim's small stature, Sin's body flew forward in a low trajectory, and Chencharick very possibly did not see him.

Chencharick said he continued driving for less than a quarter-mile and pulled into the parking lot of Denny's, 1860 N. Atherton St., to check any damage to his pickup.

Chencharick said there was only minor damage to the front passenger side, and he replaced the parking light and chrome lining two weeks later.

He was arrested March 10 when he went to the Patton Township police station because his car fit the make and model of the vehicle police believed to be involved in the accident.

Detective Chris Federinko, the investigating officer, said Chencharick told officers he came to the police station "to clear his name" and invited them to look at his truck.

Federinko said he noticed some replacements to the passenger front hood area that looked too new to fit Chencharick's claim that he had done them last September.

Chencharick confessed to hitting Sin after being confronted with surveillance tapes that placed him at the scene when the accident occurred, Federinko said.

"He said, 'I did it. I hit that guy,' " he said.

In his March 10 statement to police, Chencharick added, "In fear and panic, I stupidly drove back to my residence and never reported it."

Brian Manchester, Chencharick's attorney, said Chencharick's statement wrongly implied that he realized he had hit someone that night.

"He didn't know that night or the next day," he said. "Evidence shows he could have struck a person and not known it. He found out later and that is not a crime."

Manchester emphasized throughout the trial that what happened Jan. 30 was "simply a tragic accident."

"[Sin] walked darkly dressed on the side of the road in the dark," he said. "Mr. Chencharick was involved, and he didn't realize it."

Marshall said Chencharick's evasion of the police and his intent to lie proved he knew he had done something wrong.

"Jack Chencharick killed someone and thought he could get away with it," Marshall said. "He lied to avoid getting in trouble."

State College resident and juror Roger Fetter said the decision to find Chencharick guilty was not difficult to reach.

"He was charged with a homicide-like act, and I think our decision was just," he said. "It was simply a tragedy."

Chencharick was also found guilty on the lesser charges of failure to report an accident, driving with an expired license and driving with an unregistered vehicle. He now faces a Nov. 22 sentencing after a pre-sentencing investigation, he said.