After recently saving a fellow inmate from hanging himself in the Pima County jail, convicted robber Albert Dale Lewis said the "light came on" and he vowed to stop hurting people.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Christopher Browning wasn't impressed.
He sentenced Lewis to 17 years in prison.
Browning told Lewis he was "struck by the depravity and torturous violence" he perpetrated on his victim.
Stealing from someone is one thing, but his inflicting of "needless fear" is beyond understanding, Browning said.
Last October, a Tucson woman told police she was home alone when someone knocked on her rear kitchen door, then kicked it in. A man and a woman came in, and the man shocked her with a stun gun before duct-taping her arms behind her and wrapping the duct tape around her face.
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She recognized the woman as a former neighbor and friend, Amy Gustafson, and when she called out her name, the woman said, she was thrown to the ground and shocked again. She was then tied to her bed and a blanket was thrown over her face.
Over the next 90 minutes or so, the woman said, she was shocked at least twice more by the intruders, who wanted her ATM number and information about her finances. She told police she could also hear the couple taking items out of the house.
After the couple left, it took the woman two hours to free herself using a knife and scissors, cutting herself in the process.
A jury convicted Lewis of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, burglary and unlawful imprisonment charges in July.
Gustafson, too, was convicted and is awaiting sentencing.
The woman told Browning on Monday she has spent thousands fortifying her house, but will likely sell it because she still doesn't feel safe. On those rare occasions she leaves her home, someone must check for intruders before she'll walk inside, she said.
She is on anti-depression and anxiety medications, has been unable to handle the stress of working full-time and is still seeing a counselor.
"I will never, ever, ever, ever forget what was done to me that night," the woman said. "I will feel safer if he's behind bars for a very long time."
Deputy Pima County Attorney Lindsay St. John and defense attorney Jill Thorpe disagreed as to whether two of Lewis' sentences could legally be run consecutive to each other.
St. John asked Browning to impose aggravated, consecutive sentences because of Lewis' prior seven felony convictions.
Thorpe said her client still maintains his innocence and asked for a mitigated sentence, noting Lewis has long suffered from alcohol and drug issues.
"Being a drug addict is not being evil. Being a drug addict is a medical problem," Thorpe said.
Browning imposed aggravated sentences, but ran the two highest sentences concurrent to one another.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
