ROCKLAND, Maine — The Tennessee truck driver accused of speeding and driving while drunk who was involved in a multivehicle collision that killed two people in March in Washington has been offered a 20-year prison sentence.

Randall Junior Weddle, 54, of Greeneville, Tennessee, included that information in a letter he sent Thursday to the court, in which he asks for a new court-appointed attorney. Weddle said the charges against him, including manslaughter, are serious and noted that the first offer made by the state was for a sentence of 30 years in prison with all but 20 years suspended.

“I have seen him at the jail a couple of times so far. Each time we have had a lot of issues in regards to my case and how to best help me,” Weddle stated in his letter about his attorney, David Paris of Bath.

Weddle, who is being held at the Knox County Jail in Rockland, said he has spoken with people and provided the court with the names of four different lawyers who he feels would best represent him in court. Weddle asked for either Walter McKee of Augusta, David Sinclair of Bath, Philip Cohen of Waldoboro or Jeremy Pratt of Camden.

The court has made no ruling on the request and forwarded Weddle’s letter to his attorney and to the district attorney’s office. Paris had no comment on the letter. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody, who is prosecuting the case, was not available for comment.

Weddle is next scheduled to appear in Knox County Unified Court on Aug. 25 for a conference to determine the case’s status.

On June 22, Weddle pleaded not guilty to all 15 counts related to the March 18 crash, which claimed the lives of Christina Torres-York, 45, of Warren and Paul Fowles, 74, of Owls Head.

Weddle also was indicted on three counts of aggravated operating under the influence, two counts of driving to endanger and eight counts of various trucking rule violations. Those violations include false record keeping, driving while fatigued, driving while using alcohol and driving while possessing alcohol.

The maximum possible sentence for manslaughter is 30 years in prison.

Also last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration barred Weddle from operating any commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce, declaring him an “imminent threat to public safety.”

Weddle waived extradition after his arrest in Virginia on May 6. Police reported in an affidavit filed in court at the time of his arrest that Weddle’s license had been revoked in Virginia. He also had his license suspended in Louisiana.

In March, Weddle was driving a 1998 Freightliner loaded with lumber west on Route 17 near Fitch Road in Washington when the rig veered into the eastbound lane, according to police. Fowles was driving east in a 2009 Chevrolet Colorado and was the first vehicle in line hit by the truck.

The trailer and load of lumber then struck a 1998 Chrysler van that was behind Fowles, driven by Torres-York. The van was pushed into a nearby field and burst into flames.

Weddle was taken by a LifeFlight helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

According to an affidavit filed by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office to obtain the arrest warrant for Weddle, his blood-alcohol level was 0.09 when a blood sample was taken from him by an emergency medical services worker at the scene of the crash.

A sample taken more than an hour later at Central Maine Medical Center resulted in a blood alcohol level of 0.073. The driver also had hydrocodone in his system, according to the police report.

Under Maine law, a person is considered to be operating under the influence if his or her blood alcohol level is at 0.08 or greater. Federal law states a commercial driver is under the influence if his or her blood alcohol level is 0.04 or greater.

Weddle told investigators at the hospital that he had not been feeling well and had taken a drug called Lortab, which contains hydrocodone, according to court documents. Weddle said he had come from Tennessee and made a delivery in Massachusetts before coming to Maine to pick up lumber in Searsmont. He was traveling back to Tennessee to deliver the load when the crash occurred.

Weddle’s truck had been traveling 81 mph shortly before the crash and was operating at 73 mph when it occurred, according to the affidavit. That information was obtained from data downloaded from the engine control module, according to police. The speed limit is 55 mph on that section of Route 17.