SANTA ANA — A 33-year-old man was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for a crash that killed his nephew and injured his brother-in-law in Irvine more than six years ago, according to court records obtained Monday, Sept. 11.

Tapu Aniceto Sitagata, who has been in jail since his arrest Sept. 1, 2011, pleaded guilty Friday, Sept. 8 to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as well as drunken driving and causing injury, both felonies. He also admitted driving while on a suspended license, a misdemeanor.

A felony count of hit-and-run with injury or death was dismissed along with sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury.

Sitagata was out drinking with several friends and relatives the night of Dec. 20, 2010, at Newport Five Cocktail Lounge, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Sitagata and his companions were asked to leave the lounge about 1:15 a.m. because they were too rowdy, prosecutors said.

The group remained in the lounge’s parking lot until 2 a.m. when they refused a bartender’s offer to call them a cab, according to prosecutors. A Tustin police officer swung by about 2:20 a.m. and told the group to not drive and then offered to call a taxi, the District Attorney’s Office reported.

Sitagata and his friends told the officer they called for a taxi and were waiting for it, according to prosecutors.

When the officer left, Sitagata got behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Suburban with his 20-year-old nephew, Pesa Sitagata, in the back seat, and his then-34-year-old brother-in-law, Aron Ia, in the front seat, according to prosecutors.

Sitagata crashed the vehicle into a light pole at Irvine Center and Culver drives in Irvine, according to prosecutors. Pesa Sitagata was pronounced dead at the scene and Ia suffered two broken legs, broken ribs and a lacerated spleen and liver, according to prosecutors.

A witness who stopped to see if anyone needed help offered to call 911, but Sitagata allegedly told him not to and then ran away, according to prosecutors.

Sitagata was arrested a short distance away and had a blood-alcohol level of .17 percent, more than two times the legal limit, 90 minutes after the crash, prosecutors said.