Families gathered in two New London courtrooms Wednesday for sentencing hearings in what two seasoned judges described as the most difficult cases they handle — drunken driving fatalities caused by hard-working defendants with no criminal history.

Juan Davila, 55, of Griswold, who had a 28-year electrical career at the Millstone Nuclear Power station and a previously unblemished criminal record, was sentenced to 5½ years in prison for causing the death of Lakendrick Horn, 28, a Navy sailor from York, Ala., and causing critical injuries to Arnold Feaster, 48, of Gales Ferry. Davila, who had been drinking at Mohegan Sun, had a blood alcohol level of 0.145 percent following the April 20, 2013, crash. The legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent.

Davila stood before the court wearing tan prison scrubs, having pleaded guilty in April 2015 to manslaughter, assault and drunken driving charges and turned himself in to start serving his sentence. He was fired from his job following his conviction.

"There's honestly not a day that goes by that I don't think of Lakendrick and the life he could have lived if I had not made the thoughtless decision to drink and drive," Davila said to Horn's survivors, who had traveled from several states to attend the hearing.

Horn's family members wore white t-shirts bearing his photograph, the dates of his birth and the words "roll tide," a reference to his beloved University of Alabama football team, the Crimson Tide.

In another New London courtroom, 30-year-old Michael Paolantonio of Coventry, R.I., who also had no criminal record and held a job, was sentenced to 5½ years in prison.

Paolantonio had been out drinking with friends at Foxwoods Resort Casino and had lost control of the car belonging to his friend Ryan J. Partridge, 25, on Lantern Hill Road in Ledyard on July 27, 2013.

Partridge, who was trapped in the car when it landed upside down at the bottom of a steep embankment, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Paolantonio and the other passenger, 25-year-old David Governo, also of Coventry, were lying in the roadway when first responders arrived, according to prosecutor Sarah W. Bowman.

They were both treated at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.

Paolantonio's blood alcohol level was 0.174 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit for driving. During the investigation, he admitted to being a binge drinker.

At the sentencing, he told Partridge's family that he has not had a drink since the crash.

"I just want to say, I would change it if I could," Paolantonio said in a shaky voice.

Survivors of the victims, with the assistance of court-based victim advocates and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, delivered statements telling of their never-ending grief. 

Relatives of the defendants also attended, sitting on the opposite side of the courtrooms with pained expressions and hoping for leniency for their loved ones.

"In my 23 years on the bench, these kind of cases are the most difficult," said Judge Susan B. Handy, who presided over the Davila matter. "They often involve a good man who made a very bad choice, as did Mr. Davila."

Judge Kevin P. McMahon, who handled the Paolantonio matter, went as far as saying he "hates" the vehicular manslaughter cases, where he is often faced with defendants who had previously been upstanding citizens and devastated victims who demand lengthy prison sentences.

"You're changed," he told Partridge's family. "You're devastated. There's not much I can do. But what I can do is send a message to society. If you do these things, I don't care if you have no criminal record or if you have a good job. You're going to be held accountable."

Both judges said that in working out sentences with defense attorneys and prosecutors, they consider the facts of the case, the defendant's criminal history and review the sentences that have been handed down in similar cases.

Prosecutor Thomas M. Delillo, who handled the Davila case for the state, said he considered the sentence, which had been recommended by Handy during plea bargaining, "fair and just to all parties." 

Davila was driving eastbound on Route 2A in a Ford F250 pickup truck when he failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway, crossed into the westbound lane, hit two parked cars and struck Horn and Feaster, who were waiting for a taxi in the parking lot adjacent to the Brookside Cafe. 

Horn was propelled across the parking lot and fell down a 150-foot embankment into Poquetanuck Cove. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Feaster, also struck, suffered multiple injuries.

The "ultimate irony," said Horn's widow, Megan Horn, was that her husband was out drinking that night, too, but he and Feaster had chosen not to drive and were waiting for a taxi to take them back to the Naval Submarine Base.

Horn, who had been in the Navy for nine years, was celebrating because he had just learned he would be returning to service on surface vessels, which he preferred over submarines, according to his wife.

The couple, who had served together aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, had two children, and Mrs. Horn, a sailor currently stationed in San Diego, said she is struggling to be the sole provider and a Navy petty officer.

Attorney Matthew Auger of the Suisman Shapiro law firm is representing Feaster and Horn in a civil lawsuit against the owners of the casino bars that Davila had frequented that night.

Attorney Paul F. Chinigo, who represented Davila, said "a piece of him (Davila) died that night, too."

Chinigo said that even before Davila was charged, he agreed to help the crash victims with their civil case by providing details of his whereabouts that night.

In the Paolantonio case, the Partridge family has declined to bring a civil lawsuit against Paolantonio or the casino, in part because the insurance coverage on Partridge's car had lapsed prior to the crash.

Paolantonio paid Partridge's funeral expenses "up front," according to his attorney, James E. Sulick.  

Sulick extended an apology to Partridge's family on behalf of the Paolantonio family and acknowledged that his client had made the decision to drive that night.

He said, however, that this was not a case involving a lone drunk driver out on the road in the early morning hours.

"I will say, this is not one of my traditional drunk driving cases," Sulick said. "And a lot of people made bad decisions that night."

Partridge's blood alcohol, tested after his death, was slightly higher than Paolantonio's, according to the judge.

But he was not the one who was driving that night, and the evidence had shown that people warned Paolantonio not to get behind the wheel, McMahon said.  

Both of the defendants will be on probation after they are released from prison and will be required to use an ignition interlock device when they can drive again. 

The men will be prohibited from using drugs or alcohol and subject to other court-ordered conditions, including community service and attending victim impact panels.  

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN