With the three sons and two small grandsons of Kimberly Potter looking on, the man who took her life was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Friday.

Christopher George Goodson, 23, apologized to Potter’s family for taking off in his Mercedes-Benz in the early morning hours of April 17, 2007, after crashing into her with such force that she was dismembered.

“I already know, no matter what I say, you guys are going to hate me,” Goodson, of San Diego, said matter-of-factly. “I apologize for what happened. I’d be just as (mad) if it happened to my mother.”

Goodson went on to say it was solely his decision to leave the scene of the crash on South Third Street in Bend and his three passengers “had no part in it.”

Potter’s oldest son, 20-year-old Zach Cheney, said in a phone interview that Goodson’s apology seemed insincere.

“If he just wouldn’t have said anything I would have believed him more,” Cheney said. “He’s not sympathetic; he doesn’t care.”

Cheney’s wife, Koocie Cheney, cried quietly and rocked the couple’s 19-month-old son during Friday’s sentencing hearing.

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Mary Anderson read an angry statement from Potter’s sister.

“When you close your eyes at night, I want you to see what you did,” Anderson read. “I want her face to haunt you for the rest of your pathetic life.”

Before sentencing Goodson, Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Michael Sullivan ordered that cash police seized from the apartment of Goodson’s stepbrother, who has pleaded guilty to charges related to the case, be given to Potter’s children.

“Mr. Goodson, I have thought about this quite a bit since yesterday, and I understand it was not your intention to kill the victim in this case,” Sullivan said. “It was your reckless behavior and poor choices, however, that resulted in the terrible consequences for the victim, the family that is sitting out there, and your family and yourself.”

Goodson pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree manslaughter for slamming into Potter as she biked along South Third Street and then driving off.

After the crash, Goodson left the scene and later burned the car with the help of two other men, who have pleaded guilty to an array of felony charges.

When Goodson was arrested in an east Bend apartment, police found about a pound of cocaine, drug dealing records, cash and a shotgun.

Goodson also has pleaded guilty to felony hit-and-run, second-degree arson, hindering prosecution, dealing cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

His stepbrother, 21-year-old Eric Allen Brown, of Bend, has pleaded guilty to first-degree arson, hindering prosecution and dealing cocaine. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and drug treatment.

The third young man who helped torch the Mercedes, 19-year-old Robert Jennings Battles, pleaded guilty last month to aiding and abetting the arson as well as assault, hindering prosecution, tampering with a witness and two counts of dealing drugs. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Sullivan explained to Goodson Friday that, under Oregon’s mandatory minimum sentencing law, he would serve six years and three months with no possibility for early release. Sullivan sentenced Goodson to an additional two years and one month, during which Goodson will be eligible to earn “good time.”

“I hope that you take the opportunity while you are incarcerated to improve yourself,” Sullivan said. “Right now, your track record is not good, but it’s not too late to turn your life around.”