A man accused of driving drunk in the wrong direction and hitting a van, killing three members of a Canadian family on vacation, pleaded guilty yesterday to vehicular homicide.

As part of a plea agreement, Jeremy A. Grimes, 24, of Bedford, will receive a minimum eight-year prison term when he is sentenced Oct. 11, authorities said.

Mr. Grimes pleaded guilty to two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and one count each of vehicular homicide and drunken driving.

"He acknowledges with much regret that he devastated a family," said Mr. Grimes' attorney, Tony Zanoni. "He was just a kid who made a wrong choice that so many people make."

Roger Herve St-Denis, 52, Angela Michelle St-Denis, 15, and Paul Francois St-Denis, 21, all of Pickering, Ontario, were pronounced dead at the scene of the Dec. 23 head-on crash on Interstate 99 in East St. Clair Township, police said. Two other family members were treated at local hospitals.

Mr. Grimes' blood-alcohol level was 0.21, more than twice the legal limit, police said.

Mr. Zanoni said his client had been drinking at a Bedford bar and cannot remember the crash or how he came to be driving in the wrong direction. "Three days later, he woke up on his mom's couch and she told him what happened," Mr. Zanoni said.

Relatives of the victims were satisfied with the plea deal, District Attorney William Higgins said.

First Published: July 17, 2007, 4:15 a.m.