( CNN ) -- Former New Jersey Nets star Jayson Williams was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for the fatal shooting of his limo driver in 2002 . Williams tearfully apologized to the family of Costas `` Gus '' Christofi during his sentencing hearing Tuesday morning . `` There 's not a day I wake up and I do n't feel sorry for what I did to Mr. Christofi , '' Williams said . He pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault in the 2002 shooting death of Christofi , a limo driver he had hired . Under the plea deal , Williams could have been sentenced to anywhere from 18 months without the possibility of parole to five years in prison . Williams , who turned 42 on Monday , appeared before Somerset County Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman . After sentencing , he will be taken to the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton , New Jersey , said Corrections Department spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer . There , over the course of several weeks , he will be photographed , DNA samples will be taken , and he will be given medical , dental , psychological and educational evaluations , she said . Only afterward will a decision be made about where to send him , she said . Williams waived his right to appeal . In return , the state changed the indictment from a charge of reckless manslaughter to a charge of aggravated assault by recklessly causing bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon . Prosecutors said in January they would recommend Williams be sentenced to five years in prison on four charges of attempting to cover up the fatal shooting . A jury convicted him of those charges in 2004 . Though he was acquitted of more serious counts -- tampering with a witness , tampering with evidence , fabricating evidence and hindering apprehension or prosecution -- the jury was unable to reach a decision on the second count of reckless manslaughter . Coleman declared a mistrial on that count , and the state had decided to move forward with a retrial on that charge when the plea deal was struck . Williams will serve his sentence concurrently with the 18-month sentence for aggravated assault . Last year , the state attorney general took the case from the Hunterdon County , New Jersey , prosecutor . A spokesman for the attorney general cited a gag order in declining to discuss the case . Williams has been free on $ 250,000 bail with the condition that he not consume alcohol and that he check in daily with probation officers . The condition that he refrain from alcohol was imposed soon after Williams was charged with drunken driving in early January after crashing his SUV in Manhattan . A New York judge ordered him to wear an electronic bracelet that monitors perspiration to detect whether alcohol has been consumed . The fatal shooting occurred February 14 , 2002 , in the bedroom of Williams ' New Jersey estate . The 55-year-old driver had been hired to drive the former athlete and several of his friends to dinner following a sporting event in Pennsylvania . Afterward , the group , including four members of the Harlem Globetrotters , went back to Williams ' home . The prosecution contended that Williams was recklessly handling a 12-gauge shotgun when it discharged and that he and two others tried to make it look as if Christofi had shot himself . In January 2003 , Williams paid Christofi 's family $ 2.75 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit . Williams , who retired in 1999 because of a leg injury , played nine seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets .
Judge gives Williams maximum for aggravated assault in shooting death . Ex-Net accidentally shot limo driver in 2002 , was accused of cover-up attempt . Former player offers tearful apology to victim 's family . Williams also faces a drunken driving charge from car accident last month .