Matthew Cordle, the Ohio man who earned national attention last month for confessing to killing a man while driving drunk, has been sentenced, receiving 6 and a half years in prison.
Back in early September, Cordle appeared in a YouTube video for an Ohio-based site called BecauseISaidIWould.com. He confessed to killing Vincent Canzani on June 22 while driving drunk.
“This video will act as my confession,” he said. “I can't bring Mr. Canzani back, and I can't erase what I've done, but you can still be saved, your victims can still be saved.”
As he promised in the video, he pleaded guilty in court, two weeks after the video was posted. He was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and driving under the influence, according to CNN. The maximum sentence is eight and a half years.
Today, he was sentenced to six and a half years and will pay court costs plus a $1,075 fine. He has also had his driving privileges suspended for life.
According to CBS News, Angela Canzani, the daughter of the victim, said she had hoped Cordle would get the maximum sentence. She also said that she hoped the court wouldn’t show that anyone could “hit and kill someone,” apologize and then “get leniency.”
“My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong,” she said. “After eight and half years, Matthew Cordle will still have his whole life ahead of him, my father is never coming back.”
Cordle also spoke at the hearing. “The true punishment is simply living, living with the knowledge that I took an innocent life. That pain and weight will never go away,” he said.
image: YouTube