CASSOPOLIS — A Dowagiac motorist who last year struck two motorcyclists, killing them both, begged to not be sentenced to prison Friday in Cass County Circuit Court.

But with a prison-only guideline range, Erik Curry was sentenced to five to 22.5 years in prison with credit for 93 days already served.

Judge Michael Dodge said the offense occurred in July of last year when Curry was driving on a suspended license on Barron Lake Road in Niles. When Curry fell asleep at the wheel, he crossed the center line and collided with two motorcyclists, Carl Tarrant and Tony Bush, killing them both. A third biker veered off the road into a ditch.

Curry, 39, claims he suffers from sleep apnea but didn’t know it at the time.

“It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody,” Curry said. “I don’t deserve all this time. I ain’t a bad person…How can I be negligent if I passed out at the wheel?”

Prosecutor Tiffiny Vohwinkle said there was no evidence of Curry falling asleep at the wheel and no documentation of Curry’s diagnosis. She said the tragedy wouldn’t have happened if Curry would have “shown responsibility” and not driven on a suspended license.

Vohwinkle also read an impact statement from a daughter of one of the victims, who asked for “justice for my father.”

Said Dodge: “The big problem here is you were driving on a suspended license. You had no business being behind that wheel.”

What was more “aggravating” to Dodge was that Curry had been arrested for driving on a suspended license just two months earlier and didn’t learn his lesson.

“You may think you don’t deserve prison, but the guideline range finds otherwise,” Dodge told Curry.

Despite his plea for leniency, Curry was apologetic to the family.

“I apologize to the family,” he said, breaking into tears. “It was an accident.”

Tarrant was involved in teaching motorcycle safety in the area, and Bush was a Vietnam veteran.