A Bigfork man has been ordered to pay more than $618,000 in restitution to a woman whose left leg had to be amputated after he struck the motorcycle on which she was riding.

Brent Passwater, 48, was also sentenced Wednesday in Flathead District Court to four years with the Montana Department of Corrections followed by six years of probation. He had pleaded guilty to negligent vehicular assault, a felony.

The sentence was handed down by District Judge Robert Allison at the end of a sometimes emotional three-hour hearing.

Passwater was behind the wheel of his pickup truck on July 11, 2012, when he struck a motorcycle being ridden by Bryce and Lynn Boots while Passwater was trying turn left from Montana 83 onto Echo Lake Road.

Both at the scene and during Wednesday’s hearing, Passwater admitted he had been drinking at Scotty’s Bar prior to the crash. His blood alcohol level was later measured at twice the legal limit.

At the hearing, he said he was drinking despite the fact that he had been hospitalized and undergone emergency surgery for diverticulitis two weeks earlier and was equipped with a colostomy bag at the time of the crash.

Passwater said he was on his way home from an appointment to get financial assistance for his medical bills. He said was watching pedestrians and didn’t see the motorcycle coming.

The Bootses were on their way to their evening janitorial job — the couple also run a mechanic business together in addition to Lynn’s full-time work as a certified nurse’s assistant.

When Passwater turned, he struck the motorcycle, sending the couple flying and skidding 42 feet. Bryce Boots suffered broken toes and smashed knees and Lynn Boots had to have her left leg amputated just below the knee.

In addition to the couple’s initial $380,000 in medical bills, Lynn faces a lifetime of prosthetic purchases as well as medication, therapy, counseling and phantom pains.

She described those periodic phantom pains as “sticking your finger in a light socket or getting zapped by an electric fence.”

An initial $300,000 payment from Passwater’s insurance covered the couple’s initial medical bills.

During his statement, Passwater apologized to the Bootses.

Passwater’s new boss at E1023 Corporation, Matt Jore, called the mechanical engineer diligent, disciplined, high-integrity, honest, and “a good guy,” but added that “bad luck seems to find its way toward him at times,” creating “bummer situations.”

During his testimony, Bryce Boots struck back at Jore’s statements.

“This has nothing to do with Brent Passwater being a good man,” he said. “This could have been avoided.”

Lynn Boots also argued with statements by Jore, also an amputee, when Passwater’s attorney Thane Johnson tried to use Jore’s testimony to show that prosthetics were more comfortable and less expensive than the Bootses had claimed.

Lynn Boots testified that prosthesis issues are different for every amputee and she had already gone through five prosthetic limbs in the 20 months since the accident.

Johnson objected to the entire life-care plan presented by the Flathead County Attorney’s Office, calling it “hogwash” and saying it was based on “hearsay, double hearsay and triple hearsay.”

While prosecutors sought close to $1 million in total restitution, Johnson argued that Passwater should only owe a little more than $117,000.

Lynn Boots countered that many costs had not yet been incurred because they didn’t have the money to pay for it and noted it was a life-care plan, “not an immediate care plan.”

“My life has changed forever. I no longer have a leg, it’s completely gone for the rest of my life,” she said, holding up her prosthesis.

Just prior to being sentenced, Passwater gave his tearful statement, saying that being in prison wasn’t going to help him and wasn’t going to help the Bootses since he could not pay restitution while incarcerated.

In the end, Allison handed down the partially suspended sentence and ordered the restitution, which included $109,000 for lost wages, $14,606 for post-insurance medical bills and $470,222 of the roughly $800,000 in payments called for in the life-care plan, totaling $618,816.

Allison also ordered Passwater to be screened for and placed in the Warm Springs Addiction Treatment and Change program to be followed by placement in the Intensive Supervision Program.

Johnson indicated that he will appeal the restitution order.

The Bootses also have filed a civil suit against Passwater.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.