But his lawyer, Andrei Pavlov, said the almost unprecedented international trial was "riddled with errors" and that he would appeal the verdict within the seven days provided by Russian law.

"This decision was not a fully correct one," Pavlov said. "He did not get a fair trial."

The penal colony is a type of low-security labour camp most commonly located in Siberia or Russia's far north.

Andrei Knyazev, 46, showed no emotion as Judge Yelena Stashina read out the verdict summarizing the evidence against him and pronouncing the sentence, which was just one year short of the maximum five-year prison term prescribed under Russian law.

Knyazev, a career diplomat, killed Catherine MacLean, 50, and seriously injured Catherine Dore, 56, on a quiet Ottawa street on Jan. 27, 2001. Knyazev used his diplomatic immunity to refuse a police breathalyser at the accident scene.

Stashina ruled Knyazev was guilty of violating about a dozen separate traffic laws when his speeding car made an improper right turn, bolted into the wrong lane, jumped up on the sidewalk and slammed MacLean and Dore.

Knyazev, a mid-level political officer at the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, was driving home with an embassy official after a day of ice-fishing -- and drinking -- when the accident happened. Source.

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