Goyette ordered to pay $11,000

"I'm not an evil person," he said, choking back sobs. "I'm so sorry."

A jury last week convicted the Medford man of second-degree manslaughter for causing a crash April 18, 1998, that took the life of passenger Summer Frost -- a crime that carries an automatic sentence in Oregon of more than six years in prison.

Jackson County Judge Ray White also ordered Goyette to serve three years on parole, suspended his license for eight years (from the date of his release) and ordered him to pay more than $11,000 in restitution, including funeral expenses.

Goyette, 31, made prosecutors prove he was the driver, and Frost's sister made it clear in a statement to the court Thursday that she wanted him to acknowledge his role in the crash.

"I'm not totally mad at you," Fawn Stone said, "but there needs to be some responsibility taken on your part."

As his family looked on, Goyette immediately took advantage of Stone's offer of forgiveness.

"I didn't know her very long, but I could tell she was a wonderful person," he said. "I'm just so sorry."

Only a week ago his defense attorney was arguing in trial that Goyette was not behind the wheel the night his Toyota pickup ran a red light and was broadsided on the passenger side by a Ford F350 more than three times its size.

The only other occupant of the Toyota was Frost, a waitress and co-worker of Goyette's fiancee who was killed almost instantly in the collision. She had turned 21 only a week before.

Goyette never explicitly claimed he wasn't the driver -- only that prosecutors couldn't prove he was. The jury ruled 11-1 for the state.

Witnesses saw Goyette driving only minutes before the crash. Rescue workers also said Goyette's feet were tangled in the pedals and Frost's feet were pinned on the passenger-side floorboard.

Morever, the state medical examiner said Frost's injuries indicated she was seated on the passenger side, and an Oregon State Police reconstruction expert put Goyette behind the wheel.

Authorities also said some of Goyette's statements at the hospital after the crash -- "My driving didn't kill somebody, did it?" -- amounted to a confession.

He had a blood-alcohol level of .25 percent, more than three times the legal limit.

After the court adjourned Thursday, members of Goyette's family tearfully hugged Stone and expressed regret for the death of her sister. For a time, their relative will be gone, too.

Stone is a new mother, having given birth to a baby girl April 20 -- only two days after the first anniversary of her sister's death.