Second District Judge Darwin Hansen ordered White to serve one to 15 years on a guilty plea to the second-degree felony conviction and zero to five years each on three third-degree felony convictions of dealing harmful material to a minor, obstruction of justice and unlawful sexual contact with a 16-year-old.

Hansen ordered the lesser sentences to run concurrently but to begin after the homicide sentence is served.

Mikesell died in early July after the pair went to the foothills above Bountiful to commit suicide with prescription drugs provided by White. Police said the girl ingested a lethal dose of imipramine, an anti-depressant.

White - who claims he also ingested the pills - woke up the next morning, but the girl did not. A registered sex offender, White claims he and the girl had a sexual relationship dating back to October 2005.

The 39-year-old Davis County man shed tears through much of Friday's sentencing hearing and asked defense attorney Todd Utzinger to read a statement. In the letter, White accepted responsibility and proclaimed his sorrow for Mikesell's death.

"Samantha and I chose together this course of action," White wrote, "and it was a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

"I hope one day God, Samantha's family and Samantha can forgive me for what I've done," read Utzinger from White's letter.

But through the emotion-filled courtroom - full of friends and family of both White and Mikesell - came the stern words of Hansen, who told the convicted man that the relationship with the girl was not only illegal but inappropriate.

"This is a relationship that a 37-year-old man exercising prudent judgment would not have allowed to happen," said Hansen.

Mikesell's father, Craig Brian Mikesell, showed the court pictures of his daughter that were tucked into a Bible from which he quoted a verse from the Book of Luke.

Following the sentencing, Mikesell said he felt the court "did the best it could with what it had to work with."

After court, he told reporters: "If I have to, I'll walk to the [state] Board of Pardons [and Parole] hearings to make sure [White] is kept where he's supposed to be."

mwestley@sltrib.com