Yoon Byun/Globe Staff
David Prior, center, hugs his sons, mark, left and John, right, after Colin Ratiu pleaded guilty to killing David Prior’s son Andrew in a motor vehicle crash while drunk.
In the three months after he struck and killed a Northeastern University graduate last year, Colin Ratiu got married, went on a honeymoon, and acted as though nothing was wrong, while the victim’s family spiraled into grief, a prosecutor said in Suffolk Superior Court today.
Ratiu came face to face with the grieving family in court and finally acknowledged his role in the hit-and-run on Nov. 14, 2010, that killed 23-year-old Andrew Prior.
But he never apologized.
Judge Carol Ball sentenced Ratiu to a total of five years in the House of Correction at South Bay for motor vehicular homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
As he was led away in handcuffs, Ratiu, who showed little facial expression, waved to his family, as his weeping mother wiped her tears.
In the family’s impact statement, David Prior, chocking back tears, recalled in court the spirit of his son, who volunteered with terminally ill patients, reading to them and comforting them.
“He went on to become a wonderful student,’’ the elder Prior said through tears. “That’s who was taken from us by a coward who drove away for three months and hid.”
The father had harsh words for Ratiu and his relatives, who Prior accused of putting his family through “hell” by allowing Ratiu to roam the streets without turning him in.
“Unless Colin doesn’t do time, they will get to see him,’’ David Prior told the judge. “They will get a letter from him. we will never hear from our Andy again. Never.”
Ratiu’s family left court without speaking to reporters.
On Nov. 14, 2010, Ratiu, who had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, left a concert at TD Garden in his mother’s Hyundai Santa Fe sport utility vehicle, said Assistant Suffolk District Attorney David Bradley.
At Tremont and Terrace Street, he struck Andrew Prior, who was operating a motorized scooter, and Ratiu sped away, prosecutors say.
The impact threw the scooter 150 feet, leaving it crumbled. Prior, who is from Syracuse, N.Y., was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Ratiu drove the car back to near his parents’ home and told his family that the damage occurred as he was swerving to avoid a skunk and ended up hitting something.
In February, 89 days after the accident, an anonymous tip led police to the Hyundai. the vehicle had damages to the body and windshield, both airbags deployed, and pieces of Prior’s scooter wedged into the front end, Bradley said.
Bradley had asked the judge to sentence Ratiu to the maximum 6 to 8 years because of his “egregious actions” after the fatality.
“He got married, he went on his honeymon, and he continued to celebrate his life, all the while the Prior family was grieving,” Prior said.
But Neni Odiaga, the attorney representing Ratiu, said her ciu?> lient has cooperated with authorities and was “doing everything right.”
“He has acknowledged his guilt and is pleading guilty,’’ she said.
Ball sentenced him to serve half of his five year sentence on the motor vehicular homicide charge and the rest of the time on the leaving the scene of an accident charge.
Ratiu — dressed in a sporty corduroy jacket, jeans, and white shirt and tie — showed little facial expressions as the prosecutor recounted the details of the hit-and-run and as the victim’s family sobbed.
After he was handcuffed, Ratiu’s mother handed a black winter coat to Odiaga for her son to wear.
Meghan Irons can be reached at . Follow her on Twitter @MeghanIrons
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