Last 2 men Sentenced in Attack on Paraplegic

Two men who took part in the 2007 beating and robbery of a Redlands paraplegic man were each sentenced Friday to four years in prison. Richard Lance McGee ('gay') (at left) and Seyyed Hadi Mirlohi were the last of four defendants, all from Riverside, to be sentenced for the April 22, 2007, crime. Both pleaded guilty in August to home invasion robbery, dependent adult abuse and theft from a dependent adult. They could have faced up to 12 years in prison if they had gone to trial on all six charges, which included false imprisonment of a dependent adult, assault and conspiracy. The attackers burst into the Redlands apartment of Steven Kile, 31, threw him from his wheelchair, beat him and stole his electronics, including a device that Kile, who cannot speak, uses for communication. They had met Kile through the Internet. In a statement read by his sister, Erica Guilliam, in a San Bernardino courtroom before the sentencing, Kile said he remains angry about what happened to him and struggled for months to put his life back together. "The defendants are cowards and gutless," he said. "I will not forgive any of them. And I will not accept (any) of their apologies."
McGee said the incident did not represent his true character as a gay man.

Two men who took part in the 2007 beating and robbery of a Redlands paraplegic man were each sentenced Friday to four years in prison.

Seyyed Hadi Mirlohi, 21, and Richard Lance McGee, 22, were the last of four defendants, all from Riverside, to be sentenced for the April 22, 2007, crime.

Both pleaded guilty in August to home invasion robbery, dependent adult abuse and theft from a dependent adult. They could have faced up to 12 years in prison if they had gone to trial on all six charges, which included false imprisonment of a dependent adult, assault and conspiracy.

The attackers burst into the Redlands apartment of Steven Kile, 31, threw him from his wheelchair, beat him and stole his electronics, including a device that Kile, who cannot speak, uses for communication. They had met Kile through the Internet.

In a statement read by his sister, Erica Guilliam, in a San Bernardino courtroom before the sentencing, Kile said he remains angry about what happened to him and struggled for months to put his life back together.

"The defendants are cowards and gutless," he said. "I will not forgive any of them. And I will not accept (any) of their apologies."

Mirlohi and McGee both read statements in which they offered apologies but defended themselves as being forced by the other two defendants into taking part in the attack.

"I personally wish the best to Mr. Kile, and if I could have done anything to prevent the event I would," Mirlohi said.

McGee said the incident did not represent his true character and compared his orientation as a gay man to Kile's disability in having to overcome issues.

"I am sympathetic when it comes to your situation and what you had to endure," he said.

Judge Bryon Foster rebuked both defendants for attempting to portray themselves as less than culpable. He described the attack against a vulnerable person such as Kile as "indefensible."

"You may think you were victims in this case but you weren't," Foster said.

Outside the courtroom, Kile said he was angered by the defendants' statements.

"I didn't appreciate they (were saying) they were the victims," he said, writing in a notebook.

Kile and his sister cried as she recounted seeing Kile in his apartment after the attack.

"He was lying in the bed. He kept telling me 'I thought I was going to die,' " Guilliam said.

Deputy District Attorney Tristan Svare said he felt the sentence was appropriate. He said Kile and his family were consulted in considering the plea agreements.

"Fortunately, we were able to give voice to what he went through, and justice was done in this case." Svare said.

McGee's attorney, Angela Powell, said her client believed it was in his best interest to plead guilty and accept the four-year sentence but that he maintains he was forced, under threat of bodily harm, to drive the attackers to the apartment.

"He's confident he will be able to move on from this and lead a productive life," she said.

The two other attackers also accepted plea agreements. Ronn James Odom, 18, was sentenced last month to six years in prison while Deshon Lamar Matthews, 15, was sentenced to three years in prison.