ELIZABETHTOWN — Steven R. Baker will spend 21⁄3 to 7 years in state prison for the death of Albert Montanaro III.

The 20-year-old young college student and athlete from AuSable Chasm was jogging along Route 373 on Jan. 16 2006, when he was hit and killed by a car Baker was driving.

CONVICTION REJECTED

During a five-day trial two years ago, Baker, of West Chazy, admitted he had a few drinks at lunchtime in Keeseville that day.

But an Appellate Court ruled against the test results of 0.10-percent blood-alcohol content used in the trial, saying the prosecution had not laid a proper foundation to present it as evidence.

Baker’s previous conviction was overturned, though he had already spent about a year and a half in prison.

Forgoing a second trial in Essex County Court as part of a plea agreement, the defendant pleaded guilty to the top count of second-degree manslaughter.

FAMILY UPSET

At sentencing Tuesday, members of the Montanaro family expressed displeasure with the county’s system of truth and justice.

“Here we are again,” Albert’s father, Albert Montanaro II, told the court. “Your sense of justice as we’ve experienced so far isn’t hot.

“You’re certainly no Solomon,” he said to Judge Richard Meyer.

“We were satisfied with the original sentence; we were at least a bit happy about it.”

Two years ago, the court handed down a 4-to-12-year sentence.