A Chicago man was sentenced today to 45 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for running down a bicycle messenger in a fit of road rage.

The sentence, against Carnell Fitzpatrick, was handed down by Cook County Judge Kenneth J. Wadas.

A Cook County jury on Dec. 4 found Fitzpatrick guilty of first-degree murder, rejecting convicting him on a lesser charge of reckless homicide for the April 26, 1999 incident that killed bike messenger Tom McBride, 26. Fitzpatrick was 31 years old when he was convicted.

Prosecutors called the crime the first local incident of road rage in which a bicyclist was killed by an angry driver intent on seeking revenge for a minor traffic dispute.

Fitzgerald was accused of using his 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe to run down McBride on the 5300 block of West Washington Boulevard, Chicago, after the cyclist shouted curse words during a near-collision. The motorist then fled the scene, but later turned himself in to police, authorities said.

The defendant could have been sentenced to up to 60 years in prison, authorities said.