Golden – Before Dec. 9, Moti Lal used his two good hands and determination to make a living in his new country.
Now, Lal can’t put on his own socks, drive a car or work at his Lakewood gas station, betrayed by hands damaged by gunfire.
Three bullets fired into Lal by George Wilcinski, 40, during a robbery of the U-Pump-It station at 11800 W. Colfax Ave., have brought hard times for the family that moved from India to New York and then to Lakewood, where they thought they would be safer.
On Thursday, Wilcinski was sentenced to 48 years in prison for attempted first-degree murder and 32 years for aggravated robbery. The sentences will run concurrently.
“He needed punishment,” Lal said as he left the Jefferson County District Court. Lal’s wife, Kamini, who has had to take over the gas station, added, “He didn’t think about our family.”
Victim advocate J.J. Beattie, speaking for the Lals, said the 50-year-old man was the sole support of his family, including three children, ages 5 to 15.
Lal spent two months in intensive care and another month in a nursing home. Medical bills top $150,000, the Lals have no health insurance and the family is close to losing its home.
Lakewood police held a fundraiser in January, with customers handing them hefty tips.
“He’ll never be the same,” Beattie said, as Lal pulled up his shirt to reveal bullet wounds in his arm and chest.
Lal said Wilcinski got $11 in gas and, as Lal opened the cash register, Wilcinski pointed a .357-caliber Magnum at him.
Without waiting for the money, Lal said, Wilcinski shot him and walked around the counter and shot him two more times.
“Maybe he is a nice guy, I don’t know, but he did bad,” Lal said.
Wilcinski has a 17-year criminal history, said prosecutor Jim Stanley, adding, “Everywhere he goes, he hurts people.”
Public defender Katherine Spengler described Wilcinski as a man who had everything but lost his job and became addicted to cocaine, oxycontin and alcohol. He was diagnosed a year ago with depression and a personality disorder.
On the day of the shooting, Wilcinski admitted to being on a 30-day cocaine binge, she said.
“I’m really, truly sorry for what I’ve done. If I could take that day back, I would,” Wilcin ski told the court.
Judge Leland Anderson said he was moved by testimony from Wilcinski’s wife, Judy, who has heart problems, and a letter from his 14-year-old daughter.
“But this was not just a guy who in five minutes’ time blew a fuse,” Anderson said. “A culmination of a lifetime of choices hardens your heart, creating a callous so thick and so unfeeling that you can actually point a loaded pistol at a man.
“You invited demons into your life on a daily basis with foreknowledge and intent,” he added.
Wilcinski showed little emotion, glancing at his sobbing wife as he was taken away.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.