Interesting aspect of the sentence--I wonder how many people would be more upset by this than going to prison for at least 8 years:
"Urbanski’s driver’s license was also suspended for life, and he is forbidden from purchasing or owning a vehicle."
Honestly, I think the states would get a bigger deterrent effect bang for the buck by making this the penalty for a wider range of things than they would throwing someone in prison once in a while. After all, taking away someone's driving privileges permanently doesn't really cost the state much of anything while imprisoning them is very expensive.
Mind you, I am very happy this particular person is going away for a long time. I just think it's a particular American delusion that you can actually imprison enough people to make a real safety difference.