The Ohio man who recorded a video of himself admitting to fatally striking a 61-year-old veteran while driving drunk received six-and-a-half years in prison after his trial last week.
22-year-old Cordle pleaded guilty to killing Vincent Canzani, a Navy vet from the Columbus suburbs, after driving his truck in the opposite direction of traffic across a highway.
In the video, which went viral shortly after Cordle posted it, the 22-year-old said that he might be able to "get off" or receive "a reduced sentence," but he couldn't bring himself to "dishonor Vincent's memory by lying about what happened."
But last week, Cordle's lawyers requested Judge Davie Fais to give Cordle a sentencing less than the maximum of eight-and-a-half years that usually comes along with these kinds of crimes. Fais sentenced Cordle to six months for driving drunk, along with six years for aggravated vehicular homicide, according to CBS News. Cordle also lost driving privileges for the rest of his life.
During the sentencing, the judge discussed letters he'd been sent from people who were affected by drunk driving at some point in their lives. Fais said that Cordle should use his experience to alert the public about the dangers and dire consequences that come along with drunk driving.
One of Cordle's lawyers requested that the judge examine the fact that "a lot of people could learn a lesson from the message Matthew has sent."
The victim's daughter, Angela Canzani, was present for the sentencing. She said that Cordle should receive the maximum jail time for killing her dad.
"My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong," Angela said. "After eight-and-a-half years, Matthew Cordle will still have his whole life ahead of him - my father is never coming back."
Angela added that she would not want the court to give him a lesser sentence and send the message that you can "hit and kill someone," then apologize and "get leniency."
Cordle read his final defense before the judge gave his sentencing.
"The true punishment is simply living, living with the knowledge that I took an innocent life," he said, reading from a piece of yellow paper he pulled out of his prison uniform shirt. "That pain and weight will never go away."
