BATH – A Bath man was sentenced Wednesday to spend eight years in prison for causing a crash on Interstate 295 that killed a college professor last spring.

John Allen, 52, pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter, being under the influence of prescription opiates, and other charges including drug trafficking.

As part of a plea agreement, a Sagadahoc County Superior Court judge sentenced Allen to 16 years in prison, with eight years suspended.

Allen was driving with a suspended license in May 2006 when his car slammed into the rear of a sport utility vehicle in Topsham, killing its driver, Harold Weisbein Jr. Weisbein was a professor at Southern Maine Community College.

Allen has an extensive record of accidents, license suspensions and driving violations dating back 20 years. After the crash, police seized 100 oxycodone pills found in his home in two unmarked prescription bottles.