A state judge sentenced a Waipahu man to 20 years in prison Wednesday in a manslaughter case in which the defendant said he shot his friend in the head at close range by accident.

Because a firearm was involved in the death, Chadwick Tadly, 39, must serve at least five years behind bars before he can ask for parole.

Tadly told police he held a loaded gun to Kamuela Kaleikilo’s head because Kaleikilo, 22, was being unruly and violent. Tadly said the gun went off accidentally when Kaleikilo reached for it. The two had been drinking with others in Tadly’s Kunia Palms apartment after midnight Jan. 1, 2010, to celebrate the new year.

Tadly’s lawyer, Nelson Goo, said Kaleikilo had Ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol in his system when he died. He said Kaleikilo was also bloody from punching through a car window when he showed up at Tadly’s apartment.

Kaleikilo’s mother, Louise Kahawai, confronted Tadly in court Wednesday and told him he didn’t have to kill her son for acting up.

"As big as you are, you could have beat my son up, you could’ve called his brother," she said.

Circuit Judge Randal K.O. Lee told Tadly he could have stopped the flow of alcohol, ended the party and called police.

Tadly faced Kaleikilo’s family and apologized.

In addition to the prison term, Lee ordered Tadly to pay $7,804 restitution to Kaleikilo’s family for his funeral and $6,730 to the state Department of Human Services for medical costs.

When police showed up at Tadly’s apartment at least an hour after the shooting in response to two anonymous calls, they found Kaleikilo still alive in the living room, Tadly in the bathroom and Tadly’s teenage son and friend in a bedroom. None of the people in the apartment placed the anonymous calls.

Goo said Tadly was drunk and that he and the teenage boys who witnessed the shooting were in shock. He said even if Kaleikilo had received medical help earlier than he did, he still would have died because of the extent of the injury.

Tadly stood trial for murder, but a state jury found him guilty in March of the lesser crime.