MAN WHO HIT, KILLED FLORIDA OFFICER GETS 10 YEARS

The Jacksonville college student who admitted to running down a Gainesville officer was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison. More than eight months after 22-year police force veteran and father of two Lt. Corey Dahlem was hit and killed when Austin Wright sped through a police barricade, Wright learned his fate.

Wright was in Gainesville to celebrate the Gators basketball team's national championship. Police said Wright's blood-alcohol tested at three times the legal limit at the time of the wreck. Wright entered a guilty plea in October to aggravated manslaughter of a law enforcement officer.

During Wright's sentencing hearing, friends and family of both Dahlem and Wright took the stand in an emotional day in court. Dahlem's family and friends spoke first, giving their victim impact statements about how much the loss of Dahlem has hurt them.

"I will never forget the look of devastation and fear in her eyes. Next, Brandon arrived. He could tell by looking at us exactly what I was about to tell him. I have never felt as helpless or lost as I felt at that moment. My children were crying inconsolably," Dahlem's widow, Sally Dahlem, said in court. "When I become a father I hope that I am half as loving as he was. I will always think about what life would be like had my dad not been needlessly killed that morning. Our family has been cheated," said Brandon Dahlem.

Wright's mother, Mary Wright, told the judge her son did not deserve maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and apologized to Dahlem's family. At the end of the six-hour sentencing hearing, Wright took the stand and apologized to Dahlem's family. "It was stupid," Wright said, pausing every few words to sniffle through his tears. "It was selfish. I never should have done it. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the Dahlems."

Despite asking the judge to sentence Wright to the harshest penalty possible, Dahlem's family said the 10-year-sentence handed down was satisfactory. "They believe that a 10-year sentence is one that sends a pretty strong message in our community and other communities that if you get behind the wheel and drive while drunk and strike someone, especially a law enforcement officer or other emergency official, there's going to be a price to pay," said Dahlem family spokesman Spencer Mann. Even with time off for good behavior, Wright will have to serve a minimum of 85 percent of his sentence behind bars.