Drunk driver Matthew Cordle sentenced to 6 ½ years

Mike Munden/AP

The Ohio man who made national headlines for confessing on video to killing a man in a drunk driving accident was sentenced to six ½ years in prison, a lifetime suspension of driving privileges and a $1,075 fine in addition to court costs on Wednesday.

Matthew Cordle, 22, faced between two and eight ½ years in prison.

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He received six years for aggravated vehicular homicide and six months for driving under the influence of alcohol.

'The court feels that the sentence imposed is the appropriate sentence,' said Franklin County Judge David Fais.

RELATED: DRUNK DRIVER MATTHEW CORDLE'S VIDEO CONFESSION LEADS TO INDICTMENT

Cordle has been in jail since his guilty plea last month.

On June 22, 2013, Cordle struck and killed Vincent Canzani, 61, while driving the wrong way on Ohio's Interstate 670.

RELATED: OHIO MAN CONFESSES IN SHOCKING VIDEO TO KILLING MAN WHILE DRINKING, DRIVING

'It should have been me that night, the guilty party, instead of an innocent man,' Cordle said in court.

His dramatic, 3.5-minute video confession went viral - gathering 2.3 million views on YouTube - and ignited strong emotions for and against his public confession.

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Some criticized the website that made the video (becauseisaidiwould.com) for allegedly portraying Cordle as some sort of 'hero,' though the production team insisted that this was not their intention.

Others praised Cordle's decision to face the music.

RELATED: MAN PLEADS NOT-GUILTY IN DRUNK-DRIVING CASE DESPITE ONLINE PROMISE

Cordle's attorneys sought a more lenient punishment arguing that it would send a message about taking responsibility for one's actions; whereas, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien was pressing for the maximum sentence.

O'Brien said that Cordle drove that night even though he knew he had a history of booze-induced blackouts and refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test after the accident - prosecutors needed to get a court order for that.

Canzani's daughter agreed and asked the judge for the maximum sentence: 'My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong.'

'Whatever my sentence may be,' Cordle said before the punishment was handed down, 'there's no fair sentence when it comes to the loss of a life.'

mwalsh@nydailynews.com

With News Wire Services

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