A man scheduled for sentencing Monday in the drunken driving death of his friend instead switched his plea to not guilty.

Thomas Mallin had initially pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident. Mallin was allegedly drunk when he ran over his friend, William Meier, in November 2005.

The original plea bargain called for probation and hospitalization for Mallin's psychiatric troubles. Monday's judge threw out those parameters as insufficient, wanting to put Mallin in prison, which prompted the change in plea.

"My client has been portrayed as some kind of animal who ran over his friend and left him for dead on the side of the road, which are not what the facts of this case are all about," said Marc Gann, Mallin's attorney.

The victim's mother, Maureen Meier, sees it differently.

"He ran from the scene of the crime and he is still running," Maureen Meier said. "We're devastated, but we are ready to go to trial."

The trial is scheduled to begin October 15.