A Lehigh County judge was faced Tuesday with the choice of either county jail or state prison for a driver who struck and killed a 47-year-old Lehigh County jogger.

Judge James Anthony could have sentenced Donald Vito to one year minus a day for homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and related charges, making it a county jail sentence.But in the end Anthony decided on state prison for the 55-year-old Vito, of Lehighton, sentencing him to one full year to seven years for the Washington Township crash that claimed Angela Pope, a wife and mother from North Whitehall Township.Anthony said ultimately Vito was responsible for what happened during the crash, and likened a car to a handgun."If it's not handled properly, it has devastating effects," Anthony said.Vito, who earlier in the hearing repeatedly apologized and said he would have given his life for Pope's if he could, begged the judge to reconsider and sentence him to county jail. The judge refused.Prosecutors said on March 12 Vito was driving a Kia Rio south on Route 873 as Pope ran the same direction on the northbound traffic lane shoulder. Vito was speeding and tailgating a Jeep Wrangler when he suddenly crossed the double yellow line and the northbound traffic lane, hitting Pope from behind and then a utility pole near Phillips Road, prosecutors said.On Tuesday Vito repeated that on that day he took his prescribed medications for mental illness before getting behind the wheel, and dozed off before the fatal wreck. Vito was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety, defense attorney Matthew J. Rapa previously said.Pope, an avid runner, died at the scene from multiple blunt-force trauma suffered in the crash and her death was ruled a homicide. A crowd of Pope's family and friends were in the courtroom audience Tuesday, including her husband, John, and their three children.Many began crying as John Pope described the devastating loss and grief the family has faced since his wife's death."Every day I miss my wife and every day my children miss their mother," John Pope said. "She was a beautiful person who touched everyone around her ... this was all taken away from us by Donald Vito."Pope said the family was robbed of so many experiences, particularly his 16-year-old daughter, whom he said is at a time in her life when she needs her mother."This man took that from her," Pope said.Chief Deputy District Attorney Renee Smith previously said investigators were unable to determine how fast Vito was driving, but noted that multiple witness accounts indicate he was speeding.She said Tuesday authorities couldn't prove that Vito's medication played a role in the crash, but refused to call the crash an accident."We wouldn't be here if it was an accident," Smith said.