CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Lakewood man with a history of alcohol abuse was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for plowing into a Cleveland street festival this summer, killing two people and injuring two others.

Timothy Spock, 35, was drunk at the time. He had been convicted twice before, in 1998 and 2006, of driving under the influence, and had other alcohol-related run-ins with the law.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brian Corrigan cited Spock's pattern of behavior, as well as the harm he caused, in pronouncing the sentence.

Spock, who had family and supporters in the courtroom, expressed remorse for his crimes.

"Words cannot express how deeply sorry I am for what I have done," he said in court.

On July 29, Spock drove his 2005 Scion XB through a barricade blocking off a section of Clifton Boulevard near West 117th Street for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland's annual Dancin' In the Streets festival, which raises money for AIDS and HIV awareness.

Several people were struck, including Mitchell Andelmo, 27, and Basil Bass, 44. Both Cleveland men later died.

At Wednesday's hearing, Andelmo's father, Henry Andelmo, told Corrigan that Mitchell left college to care for his cancer-stricken mother and then stayed after she died to look after him.

"My heart left when my son left," he said.

LeBron Bass, talked about his brother's religious convictions and said later that he spoke to Spock in court as Basil would have were he still alive.

"May God bless you," he told Spock.

Constance Pokorny, Mitchell Andelmo's girlfriend, said she suffers from seizures and permanent brain damage as a result of being struck by Spock's car.

Assistant County Prosecutor Andy Santoli, who had asked for a sentence of 19 years, said after the hearing that there was no evidence Spock intentionally drove into the festival.

Spock's attorney Henry Hilow said after the hearing that his client was bending down to grab a dropped cigarette as his car approached the barricade.

Spock pleaded guilty in November to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of aggravated vehicular assault and one count of driving under the influence.

Besides the two prior drunk-driving convictions, Spock was charged June 9 in Lakewood with disorderly conduct and being intoxicated and fined $240.

He also was convicted in Lakewood in September 2009 of child endangering while intoxicated and was sentenced to a year of probation.