The sentencing yesterday of a man convicted of killing a woman while he was driving drunk brought a tearful apology from the defendant.

Thadeaus Jones, 21, cried as he told the judge he was sorry and admitted that he had a drinking problem. But his words weren't enough to convince the judge that he should get the lighter sentence his attorney sought.

Judge Howard Hantman of Pima County Superior Court sentenced Jones to the maximum seven years in prison and seven years' probation for the October 1995 crash that killed Heather A. Dowd, 21, a University of Arizona student.

Dowd's friend, UA student Thomas W. Doyle, 26, was injured in the crash, which occurred at East Sixth Street and Campbell Avenue.

The manslaughter and aggravated assault sentences are to be served consecutively. Jones will be eligible for release after about six years.

In a statement read before he was sentenced, Jones apologized for the ``extreme anguish and suffering I've caused.''

``Not a single day passes that I don't think about what I've done,'' Jones said. ``I've also come to the realization that I have a substance abuse problem.''

Jones took off his glasses and wept after he finished his statement.

His attorney, Peter Eckerstrom, described him as a young man who was honest about his problems and had a great capacity for change.

``Thad is the exception, not the rule,'' Eckerstrom said.

Deputy County Attorney Danelle Liwski pointed to a previous arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in 1994. Although Jones was not convicted, the arrest should have motivated him to change - but didn't, she said.

Liwski began crying when she read aloud a letter from Dowd's father, John Dowd.

``The loss of my daughter has left me terribly traumatized,'' Dowd wrote in a letter to the judge. ``Tears are flowing down my cheeks as I present my thoughts to you.''

Dowd described Heather, his only child, as his best friend. Jones looked down while the letter was read.

Hantman said Jones should have gotten a harsher sentence.

``The real question is not if your client would kill and maim, but when,'' Hantman told Eckerstrom.