Kristopher Kekoa said he had played baseball with Tudisco. "No matter what, my mom taught me never to hold a grudge," he said.

"I do forgive you," he told Tudisco.

After an emotionally turbulent hearing in a packed courtroom during which relatives and friends of both Kekoa and Tudisco spoke, Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto sentenced the 21-year-old college student to eight years in prison.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about what my actions have done to the Kekoa family," Tudisco told the judge.

"Please know how truly sorry I am," he said.

As he sentenced him as a youthful offender, Sakamoto told Tudisco, "Racing kills. Racing invites death to our highways."

But the judge said "the beauty of Mrs. Kekoa" is that she has forgiven Tudisco. The judge gave Tudisco until Sept. 1 to report to prison so he can graduate from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

"I'm sure Mrs. Kekoa would understand that it's an important part of your path of redemption and will make you a better person," Sakamoto said.

In issuing the eight-year sentence, Sakamoto rejected as too severe a request by the prosecution and friends and relatives of Kekoa that Tudisco be sentenced to a maximum 20-year term for his manslaughter conviction.

But he also turned down the recommendation by the defense for probation and a year in jail.

Tudisco's attorney, Michael Green, portrayed his client as an honor student and "quiet achiever" except for 20 seconds on the freeway that took the life of the teacher described as a saint and shattered forever the lives of the two families.

Willie Davis, Kekoa's brother who often acted as the family spokesman, said the family was torn apart and lost their home after his sister, "the rock of the family," was killed. He said their mother was in the gallery. "She doesn't understand why (her daughter) was taken away," he said.

Rick Davis, another brother, suggested that Tudisco has to live the rest of his life with the tragedy. "But, bruddah, at least you have a life," he told Tudisco.

Debbie Davis, Kekoa's sister-in-law, said anything less than 20 years would be "like a slap in the face."

"I have yet to see any suffering Mr. Tudisco has done," she said.

Kekoa's daughter, Kristin, said her mother kept the family together, and she wanted the judge to know "how much we miss her, and how much we love her and how lost we are without her."

Tudisco was an 18-year-old Saint Louis School graduate at the time of the crash on the freeway in Kaimuki the early morning of Aug. 26, 2001. He was found guilty after he pleaded no contest in November to manslaughter for recklessly killing Kekoa, 58, who was in the family van's passenger seat on her way to her Hawai'i Kai home.

The crash highlighted the problem of illegal street racing here, particularly because an innocent bystander was killed, and also raised concerns about the length of time between the crash and Tudisco's indictment 2 1/2 years later.

By then, Tudisco had enrolled in college and was playing baseball for Cal Poly.

Yesterday, Tudisco told the judge he never intended to race that early morning, but was on his way home when the west-bound lanes of the freeway were blocked by several cars driven by people he didn't know, going at a reduced speed. When he passed them on the shoulder, one of the cars tailgated him, he said.

"He obviously was attempting to make me angry and it worked," Tudisco said.

Tudisco said he began racing, then crashed into a guardrail. He said he told police that he was racing and how fast he was going. Prosecutors said Tudisco admitted racing at 100 mph.

"I've never avoided responsibility for what happened," he said.

He said after his indictment, he was removed from the baseball team and lost his scholarship. "My hopes of achieving a career in baseball were gone forever," Tudisco said. "I realize that's a small price to pay for the loss suffered by the Kekoas."

Tudisco's parents, Michael and Cynthia Tudisco, who moved to the Mainland after the crash, said they will return to be with their son. They described him as a good student who didn't drink or take drugs. "He has made me proud all his life," the mother said.

Kelli Franke, Tudisco's girlfriend, said he described what happened two weeks after they met. "I saw tears of shame and sorrow fill his eyes," she sobbed.

In asking for the maximum 20-year term, city Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Takata said he doesn't dispute that Tudisco's friends and family would describe him as a good young man, but said Tudisco put $8,000 of modifications in his car for racing, yet didn't have car insurance.

"He is not charged with being a bad person," he said. "He is charged with killing Elizabeth Kekoa."

Tudisco's attorney told Sakamoto he does not doubt Elizabeth Kekoa was a "saint," but also said he would be proud to have Tudisco as a son. He denounced what he said was the suggestion that it's too late for forgiveness for Tudisco.

Green said Tudisco's hopes and dreams were dashed by "20 seconds of foolish conduct by a teenager."

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority at a later date will set the minimum term Tudisco must serve before he is eligible for parole. Green said he will recommend that Tudisco be released after a year in prison. Takata left the courtroom without commenting.

Willie Davis said after the hearing that the sentencing brings closure, but he said he will push for stiffer laws against illegal street racing. Even if Tudisco was goaded into racing, "you still have the responsibility of knowing what you're doing," he said.

At 100 mph, a car is a "weapon," he said.

Davis said someday he and the family might get together with Tudisco. "Maybe we can come to a conclusion. Maybe at that time, I might forgive him. As of right now, it's a very difficult time to think about forgiveness. I don't have a sister anymore," he said.

Wallace Kekoa, Elizabeth Kekoa's husband for 38 years, said he believes his wife would forgive Tudisco. "No matter what people do, she was always helping people," he said. "That was in her heart."