Former “Prison Break” star Lane Garrison has settled a lawsuit with Michelle Ohana and the parents of Vahagn Setian, a 17-year-old high school student who was killed after the actor got behind the wheel while intoxicated.

Superior Court of California papers, obtained by Access Hollywood, confirm “that the parties have reached a settlement of the entire action.” Details of the settlement were not made public.

Garrison is close to finishing a sentence of three years and four months in prison for vehicular manslaughter. A rep for the California Department of Corrections told People magazine the actor is expected to be paroled in the next “few weeks.”

Garrison lost control of his sport utility vehicle and rammed a tree in 2006. The crash killed his passenger, Setian, who was a student at Beverly Hills High School. Two girls in the car survived, including Ohana, who was 15 at the time.

Last year, Garrison responded to a letter from Access Hollywood and revealed that prison has been tough. He also said he hopes people have taken a lesson from his story.

“This has been the hardest year of my life,” he wrote. “I hope people, young and old, are learning from my mistakes and what can happen when you drink and drive. I have much to say about the pain I’ve felt and seen inside of prison. It has been eye-opening and a harrowing experience.”

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Incarcerated former Prison Break star Lane Garrison has been moved to a maximum security prison, so he can study behind bars.

The 28-year-old actor was sentenced to serve 40 months behind bars after pleading guilty to a drink driving charge in October.

Garrison crashed his car while drunk and the accident left a 17-year-old passenger dead.

The actor, who is eligible for parole in February 2009, has been moved from Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California to the state’s Corcoran prison.

And friends say he is making the move voluntarily, because he can study for a political science degree at the tougher facility.

A source tells Star magazine, “Lane never had the chance to go to college. So he’s using his time behind bars to earn a degree.”

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WENN

Lane Garrison is speaking out for the first time since he was sentenced to 40 months in state prison in his vehicular manslaughter trial last October.

In a letter to Access Hollywood, the former Prison Break star, 27, writes:

“Greetings and Happy New Year to you and everyone at Access Hollywood from Donovan State Prison [in California]. Never did I think I would be saying the words ‘happy & prison’ in the same sentence and not be on a set. It’s pure irony coming from the show and now living the real deal. It’s surreal and mind-blowing to say the least.

“Just this past Monday they let a group of inmates watch the season premiere of Prison Break. It felt like an out of body experience as I stood around a crowd of tattooed felons watching Michael Scofield [Wentworth Miller's character on Prison Break] try to escape … all of us longing to be free as well!

“This has been the hardest year of my life. I hope people, young and old, are learning from my mistakes and what can happen when you drink and drive. I have much to say about the pain I’ve felt and seen inside of prison. It has been eye-opening and a harrowing experience.”

In 2006, Garrison was involved in a car accident that killed a 17-year-old male passenger and injured a 15-year-old female.

He pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and two other alcohol-related charges.

WENN

JESSICA SIMPSON gave jailed actor LANE GARRISON something to smile about over Christmas (07) – she reportedly gifted the former PRISON BREAK star with a colour TV. Garrison, who is serving a 40-month prison sentence for a drink driving accident that cost a teenage passenger his life, was granted access to a TV in his cell for good behaviour, but didn’t have the funds to buy one. So Simpson, who grew up with Garrison, offered to buy her troubled friend the TV, according to In Touch Weekly magazine.

Before sentencing, a highly emotional Garrison told the victims’ families he was “genuinely remorseful” and “sickened” by his behavior that night, TMZ reported.

The judge told Garrison he will get credit for the 91 days he has already served. That, combined with California’s Work Time/Good Time early release program, means he will likely be in state prison for about 20 months. He must also pay close to $300,000 to the Setian family and to the two girls who were in the car, TMZ said.

On Tuesday, a bailiff refused to accept a 3,600-signature petition from Setian’s friends asking that Garrison receive the maximum penalty of six years and eight months, but said it would be accepted at Wednesday’s sentencing if it were submitted through the district attorney’s office, said James Lee, a spokesman for the teen’s family.

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An emotional Lane Garrison was seen weeping and looking very distraught as he left a Los Angeles area church.

Garrison was the driver in a weekend accident that killed 17-year-old Vahagn Setian and seriously injured two other teens. He exited Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills with tears streaming down his face and his head in his hands.

The “Prison Break” actor showed up to the church at 11:30 Wednesday morning, spending 15 minutes inside before his tearful exit.

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Such a sad story… it’s one of those things that literally could happen to anyone.  So sad.

TMZ has learned that “Prison Break” star Lane Garrison has hired powerhouse defense attorney Harland Braun in connection with last Saturday’s fatal car accident.

Lane was at the wheel in his Land Rover on Saturday night when it crossed a median in Beverly Hills and crashed into a tree. A 17-year-old boy sitting in the backseat was killed and two 15-year-olds were injured. Braun tells TMZ that Garrison had never met the three teenagers before the night of the accident. Braun says Garrison was at a local supermarket earlier in the evening when the trio recognized him in the checkout line and asked him if he wanted to go to a party. Braun says Garrison went to the party and had one drink.

Braun says Garrison also had one margarita at a Mexican restaurant that night, but that was the extent of his alcohol consumption. Braun tells TMZ that as Garrison was leaving the party to meet a woman at his apartment, the three teens asked to accompany him. Braun says Garrison has no recollection of the accident, which Braun says rendered him unconscious. In fact, Braun claims Garrison’s first memory was waking up at the Century City Hospital emergency room with a taxi coupon on his lap that had been given to him by hospital staff so he could get home.

Braun says he was not told by hospital personnel that someone had died. He learned of the death later from a friend, Braun says, and was “totally despondent.” Braun says a sample of Garrison’s blood was taken at the hospital, but it could take several weeks before the results are in. Braun says he doubts Garrison was intoxicated, but also says, “Who knows if someone put something in his drink at the party.”

Braun also says Garrison’s Land Rover had been experiencing alignment issues as of late and had been pulling to one side, and added that the SUV had brake problems. Braun says he is forwarding repair receipts to the police.

According to Braun, “Nobody knows what happened, it’s a mystery.”

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