The man responsible for a horrific head-on crash in Stratford three years ago went before a judge in Bridgeport Wednesday.
A judge said 28-year-old Jesse Garcia-Mercado will spend the first two years in prison and then two years on house arrest.
"I'm so sorry," said Garcia-Mercado.
Police say Mercado was in a hurry on River Road in Stratford on July 20, 2019 and swerved into the other lane and hit the Brewster family from Florida head on, sending 13 people, in two cars, to the hospital.
One of them was 15-year-old Kaylee Brewster who is now able to walk after suffering a broken back in the crash.
"After surgery they told us she would never walk again," said Rosalie Brewster, Kaylee's mother.
Family members from both sides spoke in court.
"He made a reckless mistake and he's owned up to it," said Garcia-Mercado's sister.
Garcia-Mercado spent a few months in jail already before he bailed out, but the Brewster family says the court could have given him a longer sentence.
I don't feel like two years is long enough but I hope that every day that he's in there he thinks about her," said Rosalie Brewster.
Kaylee Brewster says her life has been ruined by the accident.
She says she struggles with pain every day. Brewster says her family vacation to Connecticut three years ago was a nightmare that she's trying to forget.
Garcia-Mercado also has to pay the Brewster family nearly $30,000 for medical bills not covered by insurance.