After a 2006 crash that reportedly left his passenger with a broken neck, an Illinois man was given a withheld sentence but will have to serve eight months in jail.

Bryan D. Smith, 23, of Rockton, Ill., pleaded no contest Friday to a felony charge of injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle. An identical charge and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing an officer were dismissed.

Judge Daniel George ordered a withheld sentence against Smith, with three years of probation and a 24-month driver's license revocation. As a condition of the probation, Smith must serve eight months in jail with Huber work privileges.

The injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle charge carries a maximum penalty of 7 1/2 years of initial confinement in prison and five years of extended supervision.

The victim in the case, Kristine Cavanaugh, wrote a letter to the judge saying Smith supports her and her 2-year-old daughter and "by him going to jail, I couldn't afford things on my own."

According to a criminal complaint, Cavanaugh suffered a broken neck in the Dec. 26, 2006, crash on state Highway 23 near county Highway O in the town of Newport. The vehicle in which Smith and Cavanaugh were traveling flipped over.

Smith allegedly told two deputies that he was not driving the vehicle and that Cavanaugh was. Authorities told Smith that because Cavanaugh was trapped in the passenger seat due to the crash, he must have been driving, according to the complaint. He allegedly then admitted to being the driver and said a deer had came out into the road and he swerved to miss it.

A blood sample reportedly showed Smith's blood-alcohol concentration at 0.144 percent. The legal limit to drive in Wisconsin is 0.08.

- Daily Register staff