Matthew Nanez, 21, on Thursday pleaded guilty of great bodily harm by motor vehicle and driving under the influence in the May 25, 2007, crash that left a then-17-year old girl with severe brain damage and partial paralysis, the Silver City Sun-News reported.

Nanez was spared prison time as part of a plea agreement, but was placed on three years of probation and ordered to pay $500 in restitution each month for 17 years, the paper said.

State District Judge J.C. Robinson also ordered Nanez to perform 1,500 hours of community service, including 1,000 hours working with brain-injured people and another 500 hours talking to young people about the dangers of drinking and driving, the Sun-News said.

Victoria Lee Benavidez, who is now 19, was a passenger in the car driven by Nanez around 3:30 a.m. when he attempted to pass another car in Silver City on the right and collided with the vehicle before slamming into a rock wall, the paper reported.

Nanez was treated and released from a local hospital following the accident, and his blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was 0.10, according to the Sun-News. 

Benavidez was unable to speak for herself, but her father, Gary Benavidez told the judge that half of his daughter's brain was damaged and that she, after a year and a half of rehabilitation, walks with a profound limp, her right arm and hand are paralyzed and she suffers from severe headaches, the Sun-News said.

"No one can imagine what her mother, brother and I went through," Benavidez told the judge, but he added: "We do not want to see Matt spend time in prison."

Nanez on Thursday apologized to Benavidez and her family and told the judge he is a "different" person today, saying he was attending the University of New Mexico and hoped to continue to do so, the Sun-News said.