A former Hyundai Motor America executive has pleaded guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter in a drunken driving crash that killed a motorcyclist in Orange County.

Forty-two-year-old Youn Bum Lee made his plea Tuesday in the 2005 death of college student Ryan Dallas Cook.

Prosecutors say Lee crashed his company car after drinking with colleagues. Cook slammed into Lee's car and was thrown onto the freeway, where he was hit by other cars. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors say Lee boarded a flight to Korea the day after the crash, leaving his family behind. Lee was arrested in Seoul last year and was returned in January to Orange County.

Lee is expected to be sentenced to nine years in prison Dec. 7.