AUBURN – A Lewiston man was sentenced to 15 years in prison with all but five suspended for strangling his mother.

Matthew Audet, 24, was in Androscoggin County Superior Court Friday morning for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Justice Joyce Wheeler said the atmosphere of drinking, drugging and violence in which Audet was raised led him down the road to homicide.

“This, in my mind, was a tragedy waiting to happen,” she said.

Audet suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of his mother, Debra.

Audet told the judge: “My mom was my best friend in the world.” But when she was drunk, she became abusive, both verbally and physically, he said. “I love my mother very much, despite the way she treated me in the past.”

Wheeler said Audet showed resilience to his “horrendous” upbringing and could be successful in the future if he overcame his alcoholism and let friends and family help him build a new life for himself.

Raised by abusive alcoholics, he became an abusive alcoholic, she said.

She sentenced Audet to six years probation after his release from prison.

Conditions of his probation would include substance abuse counseling, psychological counseling, completion of batterer’s program and refraining from drug and alcohol possession.

Charged with murder, Audet pleaded guilty to manslaughter, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.