The father of a 22-year-old man who was killed by a drunk driver in December 2018 while he was riding his bicycle home from work in Cranberry Township hugged the defendant, whose son died from a drug overdose.

Grief and guilt were on display in an emotional hearing Thursday in Butler County Common Pleas Court when David William Lohr, 55, of Cranberry Township was sentenced to serve 22 to 60 months in prison after he pleaded no contest to charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and DUI.

Lohr will be allowed to petition the court to be released on parole after 15 months and serve the balance of the sentence on house arrest.

Arul Teimouri, the father of the victim Aleksander Teimouri, asked for the maximum sentence to be imposed so it would send a message that there are consequences for driving drunk.

Aleksander was training to serve in pararescue in the Air Force, Teimouri said. More than 500 people attended his funeral, he said.

Aleksander studied pre-med, biology and chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh after graduating from high school.

Hundreds of people joined to ride their bikes in a Ride of Silence event held in Aleksander’s memory in January 2019 in the township.

The death devastated him and Aleksander’s mother and sister, Arul Teimouri said.

Teimouri said he knows Lohr didn’t intend to kill Aleksander, but he did intend to alter his mind by drinking before the crash.

Teimouri also said he believes the death played a roll in the suicide of Aleksander’s 16-year-old half brother in December 2021.

However, he offered condolences to Lohr, whose son died in 2017 from an accidental overdose.

Teimouri said he was out of the country when the crash occurred. When he returned, he said he discovered numerous missed phone calls on his cell phone. After returning a call to a family member and learning about Aleksander’s death, he said he fell to the floor of the airplane.

He said the sport-utility vehicle Lohr was driving pinned the wheel of Aleksander’s bike against a curb, causing his head to hit the windshield.

The crash took place 11:39 p.m. Dec. 26, 2018, on Rochester Road near Haine School Road while Aleksander was riding his bike home from work at Mad Mex. Township police filed charges in the case.

Teimouri said his son was killed instantly, but his body was kept alive for three days so his organs could be donated.

“He intended to alter his thinking by drinking. I know he didn’t intend to kill Aleks,” Teimouri said.

He said Lorh is not derelict, but he unintentionally killed his son.

A minimum sentence would lead people to believe they can get away with drinking and driving, but a maximum sentence would send a message that there are consequences, Teimouri said.

He then turned toward Lohr and said: “I’m sorry. I know you lost your son.”

Lorh said no one should have to endure the pain Teimouri is feeling.

“I apologize as a father,” Lohr said.

Defense attorney William A. Jones Jr. said Lohr had never been arrested or even cited for a traffic violation before the crash. He said Lohr joined the Navy after high school when he was 17 years old and served in combat in the Persian Gulf before he was honorably discharged in 1991.

He said the maximum sentence Lohr is facing is five years in prison.

Lohr apologized and said he accepts full responsibility for the death.

“The grief I feel is beyond words,” Lohr said.

He said his son died March 9, 2017, from an overdose.

“I know the emotions a parent feels when a child is lost,” Lohr said.

Many of the other defendants who were in the courtroom awaiting their sentencing cried as Teimouri and Lohr spoke.

Judge Timothy McCune sentenced Lohr to 22 to 60 months in prison for homicide by vehicle while DUI and a concurrent term of 48 hours to six months in prison for DUI. He also ordered Lohr to pay a $1,000 fine and complete alcohol highway safety school, 60 hours of community service, litter pick-up and a victim impact panel.