WILKES-BARRE -- A man now admits he hit and killed a mom on Mother's Day and then left the scene.
He was allowed to plead to a lesser charge and therefore was sentenced to less jail time.
The guilty plea for the deadly hit and run came Monday morning in Luzerne County court.
The judge immediately sentenced the driver who killed the woman last year.
A judge sentenced John Kuniskas of Jenkins Township to six to 12 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
The family of the victim was at first disappointed hearing that was all he would get for the death of their loved one Jean Darsky, but they came to realize the law didn't allow many other options.
John Kuniskas told a judge he did it; he hit and killed a woman near his home near Laflin and took off.
That victim was Jean Darsky, hit and killed while her family says she was checking her mail on Mother's Day, 2013, clutching a bible after coming home from church.
What happened outside her home in Jenkins Township has haunted her son for months.
"I can't even put into words how bad it is. It's devastating. It's beyond words. It's worse than it would have been for everyone, for my family and friends. My angel is gone, everything just ripped from me," said the victim's son Mark Darsky.
But the driver didn't plead guilty to homicide by vehicle, but instead the lesser involuntary manslaughter.
For Darsky's death, he'll spend six to12 months behind bars.
At first, her family wanted much more.
"Anybody would, anybody would under any circumstance. They can't go on record and say they wouldn't," Darsky said.
In talking to his lawyer, though, Mark Darsky came to realize in this circumstantial case, this is the best option.
"Under the law at the time of this particular incident, there are a number of things that could have gone either way in this case," said Darsky family attorney Edward Ciarimboli.
But now the law for hit and runs like this is different. The death of little Kevin Miller in a hit and run in Wilkes-Barre led to Kevin's Law earlier this year.
Under that law, someone like Kuniskas who leaves the scene of a deadly crash would get a mandatory three-year minimum sentence.
"My heart goes out to that family every day, every time I see that it brings tears to my eyes more than what happened to me. I'm glad that law was passed, we need that law," Darsky said.
But that law didn't apply to Darsky's mom. She was killed before it took effect. Her son is doing his best to accept what had to happen in this case.
"This was my best option. The law didn't pertain to this, the evidence wasn't crystal clear. At the end of the day, this is what we needed to do."
Mark Darsky says knowing his mother, she would have forgiven John Kuniskas and been OK with the lesser sentence. That is helping him move on.
His family has also settled part of a civil lawsuit against Kuniskas.
