A Twin Cities motorist has received a 6½-year term for being high when he tried to pass vehicles on a southern Minnesota highway and caused a collision that killed a driver heading the other way.

Steven P. Hess, 38, of Chaska, was sentenced Monday in Nicollet County District Court after jurors in September convicted him of criminal vehicular homicide and driving while under the influence of an illicit drug in connection with the crash on Jan. 21, 2020, along Hwy. 14 in Courtland Township, about 20 miles northwest of Mankato, that killed 23-year-old Aaron G. Lloyd of Nicollet.

With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Hess is expected to serve slightly more than four years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension determined through a blood test that Hess had amphetamines and methamphetamine in his system at the time of the crash.

Court records show Hess has been convicted at least four times previously for driving with a suspended license. On the day of the crash, his license was valid, a state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said. Hess also has a felony drug possession conviction on his record.

According to the charges:

Several drivers on the two-lane highway told authorities that Hess was attempting to pass other eastbound vehicles ahead of him before hitting the oncoming car. He was hospitalized with noncritical injuries.

While in the hospital, Hess acknowledged to a State Patrol sergeant that he used methamphetamine, but that was three days earlier, and he "had not recently slept," the charges said.