A Henniker man who pleaded guilty to driving drunk and killing an off-duty Hopkinton police officer will likely serve less than four years in prison after a plea agreement yesterday.

Jeffrey Dennis, 22, of Henniker was sentenced 5 to 15 years on one felony count of negligent homicide and one count of conduct after an accident.

A judge ruled that all but four years may be suspended under set conditions; with time served, that number is likely to be lower. The agreement capped an emotional day of testimony from the family and friends of Sean Powers, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War who was killed Aug. 14 after being struck on his motorcycle as he rode home along Route 202/9.

Powers, of Hillsboro, had recently ended a shift at the Hopkinton Police Department at the time of his death.

The plea deal, in part, was reached after Dennis's defense argued that the state did not obtain a warrant before taking one of three blood samples after he was taken into custody following a six-hour manhunt. Dennis, whose criminal record includes two attempts to escape arrest following other accidents, turned himself over to the police after hiding in the woods less than a mile from the crash scene.

After Dennis was taken into custody about 5 a.m., three blood tests were administered throughout the day. The first test, taken about 9 a.m., showed his blood alcohol content at a legal level of 0.05 percent. Blood samples also detected trace amounts of marijuana in Dennis's system.

Without a warrant for the first blood sample, however, the state would have risked losing it as evidence if the case went to trial, Assistant Merrimack County Attorney George Waldron said yesterday.

The accident occurred while Dennis and a friend, Adam Kowalski of Henniker, drove home from the Chen Yang Li bar in Bow about 1:30 a.m. A witness told the police that a 1992 BMW, driven by Dennis, had passed him traveling about 90 mph westbound, shortly before the intersection of the former Golden Pineapple. Less than a minute later, the witness found Powers's lifeless body in the road and heard a vehicle revving its engine, followed by voices fleeing into nearby woods.

Sean Powers's father, Peter Powers, drew sobs from a courtroom packed with police officers, family members and friends as he told Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Carol Ann Conboy about the grief of learning that his 24-year-old son, who served twice in Iraq, was left to die on the road.

"All I can picture is him squirming around on the highway screaming, 'Dad! Dad! Dad!' And for what? Trying to keep the public safe," Peter Powers said. "And (Dennis and Kowalski) go running away like cowards into the night, trying to scream obscenities to the people helping my son."

Peter Powers directed his anger toward the defendant several times as he spoke, advising Dennis to stay away from drugs and alcohol and "try to be the man that Sean was."

"Sean spent more time serving his country longer than you'll be in jail. And that's a fact. He spent more time in the Boy Scouts," Peter Powers said. "All you have to do is be a good boy and probably be paroled in three years and eight months."

A sobbing, red-faced Dennis offered a brief apology to the Powers family after the sentence was handed down.

"I would like to apologize for this tragedy caused by my reckless and careless acts," Dennis said. "There are no words I can say to bring your son back. . . . There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the pain I've caused. I hope you find the sincerity of the words I have said. I am so sorry."

Despite a record scattered with driving while intoxicated charges and a history of fleeing accident scenes, Dennis served no prison time before Powers's death.

On Aug. 13, 2006, Dennis drove drunk in a Chevrolet Blazer on Interstate 89 in Concord, reaching speeds of 93 mph. According to court records, Dennis rolled the SUV off a northbound exit ramp, hit several trees and continued driving. After being confronted by the state police, Dennis tried to escape by running to the woods before being detained, and he refused to tell the arresting officer his name or date of birth, the records said. Records indicate those allegations were later dropped as part of a plea agreement.

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