Van driver gets max for fatal NYC DWI crash

A van driver who downed drinks before plowing onto a crowded sidewalk near the Empire State Building and killing a pregnant woman on her wedding anniversary was sentenced Monday to seven to 15 years in prison for the rush-hour carnage.

Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro imposed the maximum possible sentence for Keston Brown's conviction on manslaughter and other charges, telling Brown he had no one but himself to blame for the 2009 crash.

Brown, 29, had acknowledged drinking three beers and a shot of cognac at a bar an hour before, but pinned the crash on mechanical problems with the van. He told the judge he was deeply sorry for the wreck, which killed Ysemny Ramos and her unborn child and injured a friend walking with her.

"It sickens me" to think of what happened, Brown said. "I beat myself up every day. I never wanted to hurt anyone," he added as about a dozen of Ramos' family members and friends watched with tears and ire.

A row of Brown's relatives sat across a courtroom aisle, where his wife sobbed on hearing his sentence and rushed from the room afterward.

Brown and Ramos were wrapping up their work weeks and heading home to their families when their paths crossed on March 27, 2009.

Brown has six children; Ramos and her husband had three and were expecting another. - AP