A Casper man who shot two people in March received eight to 10 years in prison with a recommendation for boot camp from Natrona County District judge on Friday.

Shane Leonard, 22, the gunman in the Evansville shooting, told the judge that "I am ashamed of myself every time I look in the mirror." He also said he can "never be forgiven."

Even though Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen said he understood that Leonard didn't have any prior arrests and may have been encouraged to shoot, it was still a serious crime.

It was amazing, Blonigen said, that two people were robbed and two people shot in what he called a drive by shooting that "shouldn't have involved any of them."

The two shooting victims, Deon Hines and Derric Winters, survived their injuries.

Leonard and one-time gang member, O'Shea Abeyta, 21, drove to an Evansville trailer home in March armed with a .22-caliber pistol. Blonigen said Leonard walked to a car with two people inside and robbed them of their cell phones at gun point.

He then shot Hines in the buttocks after Hines came out of a trailer, Blonigen said. Leonard's gun jammed and he and Abeyta drove off only to return moments later and shoot Winters who had come out of the trailer to help Hines.

Winters was shot in the abdomen.

Standing before the judge in a grey suit, Leonard said he has nightmares thinking about apologizing to the victims.

Hines wrote a letter to the court citing the physical and emotional damage the shooting caused.

"I've tried to move forward but the memory of being shot holds me hostage. It is my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night," Hines wrote in a letter to the court. "If this incident were an accident, I could deal with it better, but it was a blatant and deliberate act with no regard for human life."

Leonard's employer, mother and grandmother all spoke before the judge on his behalf.

Winters was not able to attend the hearing. But Leonard's attorney Rob Oldham, said Winters sympathized with Leonard's family and didn't want him to be away from his three children and their mother.

Oldham told the judge that Leonard was drunk on the night it happened and has been struggling to remember what he did.

While alcohol is not an excuse, he said, he doesn't believe Leonard would have done something like this sober.

"This night is an aberration," he told Natrona Count District Judge David Park. "Boot camp is made for this man."

Abeyta's attorney asked the same judge on Tuesday for a boot camp sentence for her client but the judge denied the request.

Wyoming's boot camp is a prison facility, Blonigen said, and gives the person sentenced the opportunity to ask a judge for a reduced sentence. The judge is not legally bound to change a sentence after boot camp, but can if the program is deemed a success.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com