Coban Porter, the younger brother of Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., has been sentenced to six years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed a woman in Colorado last year.
Porter was sentenced Friday for the January 2023 crash in Denver that killed Kathy Limon Rothman and seriously injured her passenger. Porter, who caused the crash after he ran a red light and slammed into the other vehicle, received an additional two-year sentence for the passenger's injuries that he will serve concurrently.
According to The Denver Post, prosecutors on Friday said Porter was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level of .19, more than twice the legal limit of .08.
Porter had pleaded guilty in February to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault as a part of a plea agreement that had reduced his sentence to a maximum of eight years.
"All I can really say is that I'm sorry," Porter told the courtroom Friday, according to the Post. "I know that I'm never going to be able to right that wrong. ... I never thought I'd be standing here. I thought I was invincible. It wasn't the first time I chose to drink and drive. I'm so sorry."
Michael Porter Jr. testified on his brother's behalf during Friday's hearing, saying in part, according to the Post, "I know that if I were in your shoes and it was reversed, I would have a lot of feelings as well." Others also spoke on behalf of the Rothman family.
Coban Porter had been a freshman on the University of Denver men's basketball team prior to the crash, averaging 11.4 points per game during the 2021-22 season.
Porter's sentencing follows Wednesday's announcement that the NBA had banned Jontay Porter, his and Michael Porter Jr.'s brother, after an investigation revealed that the two-way player for the Toronto Raptors had violated "league rules by disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games."
