"Prison Break" star sentenced to 40 months behind bars

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"Prison Break" actor Lane Garrison, found guilty of killing a high school student last December, has been sentenced to three years and four months in a California state prison on Wednesday. The 27-year-old actor pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter, drunken driving and providing alcohol to a minor.

In May, Garrison pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving for a December crash that killed 17-year-old Beverly Hills High School student Vahagn Setian, a passenger in his car, and injured two other 15-year-old girl passengers.

The incidence took place last year on Dec. 2 when Garrison reportedly met the three teenagers at a grocery store and agreed to accompany them to a party. As the actor drove through Beverly Hills, his 2001 Land Rover jumped a curb and collided with a tree, killing one of his passengers, Setian and injuring the other two teenage girls in the car.

The injured girls were hospitalized, who later recovered. Garrison also suffered minor injuries and was also hospitalized.

At the time, a police investigation found Garrison driving while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The actor had a blood-alcohol level of 0.2, more than twice the legal limit in California, at the time of the crash and was tested positive for cocaine.

He was charged with felony vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony driving under the influence (DUI) causing injury to multiple victims, felony driving with a blood-alcohol level above the .08 percent legal limit causing injury, and a misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to a minor.

Garrison could have faced a maximum penalty of six years and eight months behind bars. A Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox yesterday sentenced the star to 40 months behind bars. Before pronouncing the sentence, Judge Fox was presented with a petition signed by more than 3,500 friends of the teenager killed in the crash, urging the sentencing judge to land Garrison behind bars for almost 7 years. But, judge Fox refused to accept the petition.

Before the ruling came down, Garrison, dressed in a suit and free from handcuffs, expressed his regret towards his actions and vowed to compensate his wrongdoing.

"I just want to say how sorry I am to the Setian family. I am sickened by my behavior on that night. My thoughts keep coming back to that night," he told the court, which was packed with friends and family of victim Setian.

"I want to show that my walk with sobriety will be very easy. I want to help other kids not make the same mistake I did," he added.

Besides the jail term, Garrison was ordered to pay close to 300,000 U.S. dollars in restitution to the Setian family and to the two female passengers injured in the crash.

According to Lane’s lawyer, Harlan Braun, Garrison will receive credit for the 91 days he has already served. This shortened sentence, if combined with California's early release program for good behavior, will likely cut his jail-term to about 20 months.

Born on May 23, 1980 in Dallas, Texas and raised in Richardson, Texas, Garrison is best known for the role of David "Tweener" Apolskis on the television series Prison Break. At seventeen and unable to get along with his mother, he left home and moved in with Joe Simpson, the manager and father of pop stars Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson, and at 18 he drove to Los Angeles to become an actor. He made minor appearances in several movies, including Quality of Life in 2004 as "Heir"; Crazy in 2006 as "Billy Garland" and recently landed a role in Shooter, a 2007 action film directed by Antoine Fuqua.