EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon man has been sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the drunken driving death of a 5-year-old girl and a homeless man on Interstate 5 near Eugene.

Stephen Jason Whitaker of Cottage Grove also pleaded guilty to drunken and reckless driving in the deaths last June of the child, Kailee Coontz, and Whitaker's friend, 34-year-old John Ray Ratliff, a transient from Ohio.

Prosecutors said the 41-year-old Whitaker and Ratliff had spent a day drinking before Whitaker drove his recreational vehicle at speeds up to 80 miles an hour and lost control, crossing the freeway median and crashing into a car.

The girl's parents, Brian and Cathleen Coontz, suffered minor injuries.