PLATTSBURGH — Scott Lamare said losing a portion of his leg in a hunting accident last fall has forever changed his life.
"November 15th is a day I won't forget, and I'm sure Gary (Gambadora) won't either," the 35-year-old correction officer said Monday when Gambadora was sentenced to financial payments for shooting Lamare while the pair were hunting in Beekmantown.
"I know he didn't mean to shoot me and that it was an accident ... I still can't believe it happened. He was one of the most careful hunters I know."
Lamare said he didn't want Gambadora to go to jail or serve probation but said he wished the 64-year-old had offered him some sort of emotional support during his recovery instead of cutting off all contact with him.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Timothy Blatchley also felt that jail and probation were not appropriate in the case. But he said Gambadora should pay any related medical expenses that were not covered by his homeowner's insurance when Lamare was awarded an unspecified civil judgment after he filed a lawsuit for the shooting.
Blatchley said Gambadora should have to make some sort of out-of-pocket payments for the shooting since his insurance had covered the civil judgment.
Judge Kevin Ryan said the civil suit should have encompassed compensation for Lamare's lost wages, pain and suffering.
The judge felt any financial sentence should be issued for the State Office of Victim Services to reimburse that agency for payments it made to Lamare after the shooting.
Ryan, as well as probation officials, also agreed that jail time and probation were not necessary, noting Gambadora's "exemplary" life and lack of criminal history.
During the court session, Gambadora called the shooting an accident and said he was sorry.
"It (the shooting) goes on in my mind every day," he said, adding that he now doesn't sleep well and is plagued with remorse.
He told the judge he stayed away from Lamare after the shooting because of the civil lawsuit and criminal case, not because he lacked sympathy for what had happened.
Ryan ordered Gambadora to make monthly payments to reimburse Victim Services a total of $8,145, the amount the agency gave Lamare during the Morrisonville man's initial recovery.
Gambadora, a married father of three, must also pay a medical deductible that has not been covered.
He has given up his hunting license.
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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