HILLSBORO, N.D. — A Minnesota man has been sentenced to spend 15 years in prison for a traffic crash that killed two sisters in eastern North Dakota.

James Yahnke, of Nielsville, Minnesota, pleaded guilty in December to vehicular homicide in the May 2014 deaths of 23-year-old Mercedes Rowley, of Sharon, North Dakota, and 21-year-old Teja Beyer, of Red Lake Falls, Minnesota.

Yahnke was accused of being drunk and speeding on a Traill County road north of Hillsboro and losing control of the car, leading to the crash. The two women were passengers in the vehicle. They were thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

WDAY-TV reports that Yahnke will be on probation for 10 years following his prison time.