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DURHAM — A former N.C. State student from Graham who hit and killed a bicyclist as he drove home drunk from class on his 21st birthday avoided prison but will not be able to drink or drive for three years.

Brian Anthony Reid pleaded guilty Thursday to felony death by vehicle and impaired driving after he ran over 60-year-old Nancy Leidy just before 11 a.m. on April 23. Leidy was struck as she pedaled down a side street near the university campus where she frequently volunteered to teach in the entomology department.

Her widower, retired N.C. State professor Ross Leidy, asked Wake Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens to be lenient in his sentencing of Reid.

"To be honest with you, part of me wants this kid to go to jail," Leidy told Stephens. "But, your honor, I don't know what that will do."

Reid, an engineering major who was in the university's Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, had been out drinking the night before the accident to celebrate his 21st birthday, a milestone allowing him to legally drink. He was driven home by friends and slept for a few hours before waking and driving to class, said Rusty DeMent, his defense attorney.

A police officer administered a Breathalyzer test after the accident, and Reid registered 0.12, said Wake assistant district attorney Jeff Cruden. It is illegal to drive with a level of 0.08 or above.

In exchange for Reid's guilty plea, Stephens structured a punishment of his own. He waived a two- to three-year prison sentence and put Reid, who has no criminal record, on probation for three years. During that time, Reid was ordered not to drive or drink alcohol. He also must perform 400 hours of community service, including 100 visits to local high schools to talk about the dangers of drunken driving.

Reid will also have to spend five weekends in either the Wake or Alamance county jail and pay more than $10,000 in restitution for medical and funeral costs. His hometown is in Alamance County.

Stephens told him the punishment was not harsher, in part, because of Ross Leidy's request for leniency.

Reid's lawyer submitted a notebook filled with 50 to 60 letters from family, friends, church members and fellow fraternity brothers of Phi Kappa Tau. Reid is now taking classes at Alamance Community College. He had hoped to become a Navy pilot, but that may be impossible with the felony conviction, DeMent said.