A 62-year-old speeding Corvette driver who was trying to pass another driver when he struck and killed a 77-year-old bicyclist was sentenced Monday to more than six years in prison.

Willard Earl Tow had a blood alcohol level measured at .28 percent, which is 3 ½ times the legal limit of .08 percent, according to the prosecution. He had visited six bars before driving into the Southwest Portland bicycle lane -- killing cyclist Andrzej Kurkowski on impact, according to a civil lawsuit filed against Tow.

An off-duty Portland police officer, Kevin Allen, heard the crash and rushed over to find Kurkowski dead in the shrubs at about 4 p.m. on May 30, 2016, according to a probable cause affidavit. Allen asked a group of people nearby who the driver was, and Tow raised his hand, the affidavit states.

Allen later overheard Tow telling someone on his cellphone, “I think I’m in trouble because I’ve been drinking,” according to the affidavit.

Deputy District Attorney Tara Gardner said Kurkowski, who lived in Beaverton, was wearing a helmet and had been pedaling in the bicycle lane in the 6300 block of Southwest Multnomah Boulevard, about a mile west of Multnomah Village.

Tow recently has settled a lawsuit against him by Kurkowski's estate for $950,000 -- $900,000 of it is being paid for by Tow's auto and umbrella insurance, and $50,000 is being paid directly by Tow, said Portland civil attorney John Coletti. The case against the six bars Tow had patronized before the crash is still ongoing, Coletti said.

In April, Tow pleaded guilty in Multnomah County Circuit Court to criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

At Monday’s hearing, he didn’t make any statements but breathed deeply and closed his eyes as defense attorney David Eder said his client feels “deep remorse, guilt” and wishes “he could go back in time.”

The speed limit is 40 mph. Tow was traveling 55 mph and stepping on his brakes at the time of impact, according to Gardner.

A passenger in Tow’s 2013 red Corvette told police that he thought Tow had been driving 80 to 90 mph at one point before the crash. That passenger, Ryan Hood, told police that he’d met Tow at the Raleigh Hills Fred Meyer and paid Tow $5 for a ride, Gardner said.

Tow had previously been found guilty of DUII in Washington County in 2011, had been allowed to enter a diversion program that required him to attend treatment and then saw the case dismissed upon completion in 2012. During a hearing two months after Tow killed Kurkowski, a judge said it was clear that Tow didn't pay attention to what the diversion program had to offer.

Tow told authorities that he was employed as an electrician at the time of the crash. He said that work was slow, he was single and he lived alone in Southwest Portland.

He was sentenced to six years and three months, plus three years of post-prison supervision. His driver's license also will be permanently suspended, although he could be eligible to ask a judge to reinstate his license 10 years after he concludes his post-prison supervision.

Kurkowski is survived by his wife and adult daughter and son.

-- Aimee Green