Lamont Ray Wilson stood before Ramsey County District Judge Salvador Rosas on Friday morning to be sentenced for second-degree murder and attempted murder. "I'm just sorry for what happened. I'm just sorry for what happened," Wilson said.
Wilson was sentenced to more than 13½ years in prison and will have to serve a little more than nine years before he is eligible for release.
He pleaded guilty last summer in connection with the shooting death of Robert Renville and the wounding of two men on March 7 in St. Paul. The incident, at Ohio and Orleans streets, was the result of a drug deal gone awry.
"My hope is that you're going to get through this, learn a lesson and move on," Rosas told Wilson. "When you get out, I hope you won't forget how you feel today."
Wilson's attorney, John Riemer, told the judge that Wilson had sent a letter to Renville's family telling them that he was not the shooter and expressing his "deepest regrets for what has happened."
The letter also said, "I know how it feels to lose a loved one. I never meant to hurt anyone."
The man who shot Renville and the two other men with an AK-47 rifle was Lionell Thomas, 26. He was sentenced last week to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder. A third man, Tajiddin Akbar, is still on the loose.
PAT PHEIFER
