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WINSTON-SALEM (MCT) — Kenneth Smith spent years mentoring young men who had drinking problems.

Smith, 55, had overcome a drinking problem he had as a youth and was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous. And he was generous, his mother, Patti Rae Smith-Butterfield, said Wednesday in Forsyth Superior Court. He took in stray animals and was helping an Iraq War veteran get back on his feet.

All that ended on Dec. 2, 2010, when Smith was killed after his motorcycle was struck by Christopher Sheffield, who had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of his Jeep.

"My son didn't come home that night of Dec. 2, and he will never be coming home," Smith-Butterfield said.

Sheffield, 26, of 4013 Loch Lorien Road in Kernersville, pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony death by motor vehicle and misdemeanor driving while impaired in Smith's death.

Judge A. Robinson Hassell sentenced Sheffield to 20 to 33 months in prison on the felony death by motor vehicle charge and imposed no penalties against him on the DWI charge.

The wreck happened about 9 p.m., Trooper Joe Byrd of the N.C. Highway Patrol said in court.

Sheffield was driving along Baux Mountain Road and cut through a gas station parking lot to avoid a traffic light, Byrd said.

Sheffield pulled out of the gas station, turned right on N.C. 66 and then turned left back onto Baux Mountain Road. That's when his Jeep collided with Smith's motorcycle.

The case was egregious, said Assistant District Attorney Matt Breeding. Sheffield's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent. The legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent.

"(Sheffield) was so impaired that he didn't see a motorcycle with his lights on as it was coming through an intersection," Breeding said in court.

Smith-Butterfield said her son dedicated his life to caring for others. He cared for his wife, who died a year before he did, she said. Smith-Butterfield said he took care of her when she broke her leg earlier that year.

"This was a good, good man," Breeding said.

Smith also was a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, he said.

Sheffield apologized to Smith's family in court. He spoke so softly it was difficult to understand what he said.

Robert Scott, Sheffield's attorney, said Sheffield is haunted by that night.

"He is truly sorry," he said. "He thinks about it every day. He'll never forget it."

Smith-Butterfield said she prays that Sheffield will be able to turn his life around and do the kinds of things her son did.