A man convicted in the death of a worship pastor for Bonney Lake EastPointe Church was sentenced Thursday to more than two years in Pierce County Jail.

Joseph McNeil, 30, pleaded guilty as charged March 15 to one count of vehicular homicide, according to Pierce County Superior Court documents.

Presiding Judge Elizabeth Martin gave McNeil 31 months for the Sept. 6 death of Samuel Stephens.

Stephens, 24, was a resident of Graham and a pastor of four years with EastPointe Church.

On the night of Sept. 6, McNeil was driving intoxicated when he hit Stephens car in Pacific. Stephens was 11 days away from marrying fiance Emily Nolte.

“The impact he had during his life was amazing,” Pastor James Ludlow of EastPointe said. “When Sam was killed, we held a memorial service with more than 1,000 people attending. One hundred and seventy-five people made a commitment to follow Christ because of what happened to him.”

When McNeil’s family heard about the service, they called Ludlow and asked him to pray for their son, the pastor said.

“I prayed with [McNeil’s] father and Joseph while he was under house arrest,” Ludlow said. “Joseph was a broken man. But I saw in kind of a weird way, Sam brought him to Christ. I started a relationship with Joseph and over the Christmas holiday I brought him a bible.

“As of [sentencing day], of course we’re going to support the Stephens. But the difference between 31 and 40 months [jail sentence] isn’t much. The real story is the devastation between two families.”

At sentencing, Stephens’ father, Mike Stephens, asked present friends and family not to focus on being bitter, but rather to focus on being better.

McNeil also spoke briefly, apologizing for his decision to drink and drive.