The Ontario women, all in their 80s, were killed in a collision with a drunk driver almost two years ago. From left, Verna Neaves, Bernice Phillips, Marion Dawson and Jean Ripley. They were known as the pie ladies because they got together each week to bake pies, which they sold to benefit their church. (CBC)

A Chatham, Ont., man will spend four years in prison for driving drunk and killing four women in their 80s.

Wladyslaw Bilski, 49, was convicted in June of impaired driving causing the deaths of Marion Dawson, Bernice Phillips, Verna Neaves and Jean Ripley — known affectionately in their church community as the "pie ladies."

He was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and banned from driving for 10 years. Bilski had faced a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The women were heading home from a church supper in 2007 when Bilski's minivan crossed the centre line and slammed head-on into their Ford Focus, killing all four women instantly.

Wladyslaw Bilski was sentenced Monday to four years in prison on four counts of impaired driving causing death. (CBC)Bilski had more than three times the legal alcohol limit in his blood at the time of the incident.

The women, all in their 80s, were grandmothers and great-grandmothers, were described as the "matriarchs" of their families and were active in their church and community.

"I stand before you with much grief and sorrow. Not for myself, but for the beautiful women whose lives were cut short by my carelessness," Bilski said in a letter read to the court by his lawyer on Monday. "It pains me deeply to look into the eyes of the loved ones, and see not only the anguish and despair at their immense loss but also the anger and bitterness they hold against me."

In his ruling, Superior Court Justice Robert Abbey said Bilski's blood-alcohol level was an aggravating factor in the sentencing.

"The offender made a choice to consume alcohol that afternoon and he made a choice to drive," Abbey's ruling said. "Those choices were not by accident."

Family members of the four women told reporters they weren't satisfied with the sentence.

"The number four is kind of ironic — one year per life — and it just doesn't seem like enough," said Jean Van Veen, Neaves' granddaughter. "To think my grandma's life was worth one year kind of hurts."

Crown attorney Paul Bailey said the sentence was based on previous rulings in the Ontario Court of Appeal, which prescribe an eight-year sentence.

The Crown had asked for a seven-year prison sentence.

With files from The Canadian Press