A Waianae man today was sentenced to one year in prison and given five years probation for killing his cousin in a one-car crash last year in Pearl City.

Upon a plea agreement, Jamil B. Ballesteros agreed to serve one year in jail and pay a $500 fine. The judge also revoked his driver’s license for five years.

Police said Ballesteros was driving the car that crashed into a light pole at Kuala Street and Acacia Road on July 17, 2014. He was convicted of first-degree negligent homicide and driving without a valid driver’s license in June.

Defense attorney Paul Cunney told Circuit Judge Karen Ahn that “this was a very difficult situation that “devastated two families.”

Family members of both Jamil and Nico Ballesteros had sought no jail time, and sat in the courtroom when the defendant apologized.

Cunney said the defendant graduated from a six-month Salvation Army drug rehabilitation program and continues to attend AA meetings.

Nico Ballesteros, 22, of Waialua, was a passenger in the car and was pinned inside the vehicle after the crash. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition where he died the following day.

Jamil Ballesteros, who was 21 at the time of the crash, was taken by ambulance to the Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition. He was later released.

During the trial, city prosecutors said that the defendant’s blood alcohol content was 0.15. The legal threshold for drunken driving is 0.08. Police also found open alcohol containers in the car.

According to state court records, Ballesteros has five prior convictions for driving without a driver’s license. Police cited Ballesteros with driving without a driver’s license offense three months before the crash.