FARMINGTON – A Vietnam War veteran was sentenced to nine months and a day in jail Friday, ending a three-year court case that challenged the mandatory minimum sentences of Tina’s Law.

Franklin County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy originally sentenced Gerald Gilman to 90 days in jail for continuing to drive after losing his license as a habitual offender. Maine’s Supreme Court overturned that sentence in April, upholding a state law that increased penalties for repeated driving violations.

Tina’s Law, which went into effect in 2006, was named for Tina Turcotte of Scarborough, who was killed in Hallowell in 2005 by a trucker with a long list of driving offenses.

Under Tina’s Law, Gilman, of New Sharon, would have had to serve a minimum of two years in prison. But, in 2007, Murphy deemed that sentence unduly harsh, citing Gilman’s personal character and his efforts to turn his life around since his prior convictions.

Prosecutors appealed her decision to the state’s highest court, which vacated Murphy’s ruling and sent Gilman back to Franklin County Superior Court to be sentenced again in accordance with the law.

Gilman still won’t spend two years in prison, however. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson said in court Friday that the state decided to strike one of Gilman’s three prior convictions for operating under the influence, reducing the minimum mandatory sentence to nine months and a day in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Murphy questioned why the state’s recommendation had changed. Robinson said he considered the fact that Gilman had not violated his bail during the three-year case and that one of the convictions that subjected Gilman to Tina’s Law was nearly 10 years old when he was pulled over in 2007.

Gilman, 62, was driving after his license had been revoked when he was stopped for speeding in New Sharon in April 2007 — the catalyst for the protracted court case.

His past convictions, dating back to 1973, included four for OUI, three for operating after suspension, one for driving to endanger and one for driving after habitual offender revocation in 2006.

Because three of Gilman’s OUI convictions occurred within 10 years of April 2007, when he was stopped for speeding after his license was revoked, he was subject to a two-year minimum sentence under Tina’s Law.

The sentence Gilman received Friday only took into consideration two of those convictions, in 2003 and 2005, both from Franklin County.

The third conviction, which was struck by the state, was handed down in Waterville District Court in 1998.

Woody Hanstein, Gilman’s attorney, argued in 2007 that the two-year minimum sentence was inappropriate considering Gilman was stopped for speeding, a non-criminal offense.

In addition, Hanstein said at the time, Gilman had stopped drinking, had become involved in the Elks Club and was seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder, which he suffered as a result of his service as a Marine.

Citing Gilman’s character, Murphy agreed that the mandatory punishment was excessive. But, she said Friday, the Supreme Court decided that the characteristics of a person couldn’t factor into a judge’s decision to override the law.

“It’s still not a good law,” Hanstein said in court Friday. “I’m still not happy about this.”