Man gets 20 years in cabbie shooting

Former cabbie Jack Gordon walked out of a Spokane County courtroom Friday with a debt to “unsung heroes” on his mind.

The man who shot the 61-year-old Gordon in the head for $200 left the courtroom in shackles and in fear for his immortal soul.

“I apologize, and I am ready to take the maximum sentence,” Jose C. Reyes, 20, said before Superior Court Judge Robert Austin sent him to prison for more than 20 years. “I just hope for forgiveness… . I want to go to heaven. I don’t want to go to hell.”

The maximum possible prison term was what speaker after speaker called for when Reyes was sentenced for one count of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree robbery.

“I hope God has mercy on Mr. Reyes’ soul because the cab industry has none for him,” taxi driver Robert Beare said.

Gordon’s cousin, Joseph Lutz, came from Virginia to implore Austin to throw the book at Reyes.

“I don’t understand why this man hasn’t been charged with attempted murder,” Lutz said, echoing several other speakers.

Lutz said he recently had a sinus tumor removed, so he understands some of the pain and suffering Gordon has experienced since being shot in the head with .22-caliber bullet last December. Lutz said he expects his own dizziness and “speech lapses” to clear up, but “my cousin will have to live with this for the rest of his life.”

In a letter to the court, Gordon’s 5-year-old granddaughter, Wynter Rhys, said, “I just wish Grandpa Jack would change back into the real Grandpa Jack.”

Leaning on his cane outside the courtroom, Gordon said the man his granddaughter knew died about 10 p.m. Dec. 1 when Reyes put a sawed-off rifle to his temple and pulled the trigger instead of paying his fare.

“I’m trying to reinvent my life now,” Gordon said.

Authorities thought Gordon was going to die of his injuries, although he remained conscious throughout his ordeal. He radioed for help and then gave police a description of his assailant, who was quickly tracked down.

“I think I healed as much as I have because of my family and my friends and the community here,” Gordon said.

Most of all, he credited the “unsung heroes” – the emergency and hospital workers who treated his wound and the police who caught his assailant.

“If there is anything I can do in this community to try to pay it back, that’s what I’m going to do,” Gordon said.

Reyes claimed in his non-jury trial last month that the shooting was accidental, but Gordon – like Austin – said it was deliberate.

“I have a very keen memory of what happened that night,” Gordon said. “It was no accident, but I forgive him. He’s going to have to do the time, though.”

Austin told Gordon’s friends and family that Reyes was convicted of the maximum charges the law allowed. But he found Reyes sincerely remorseful, and said Reyes’ tearful explanation of the crime made “perfect sense” to him.

Addressing the courtroom gallery, Reyes had said, “I don’t know if all of you know anything about crystal meth, but I do. It will turn you into a demon – a demon what will take anybody’s life for a hit, and that’s what I did.”

Most defendants in Reyes’ position already have some criminal convictions, but Reyes had none, Austin said.

“You haven’t even spit on the sidewalk, as far as I can tell,” Austin said. “That makes it all the harder.”

Use of a firearm automatically added 10 years to Reyes’ sentence – five for each count – with no possibility of early release for good behavior. Including the firearm enhancement, Reyes faced a standard range of 19 1/4 to 22 1/4 years in prison.

“You are a tragedy and you caused a tragedy,” Austin said as he handed down a 20 1/2-year term. “Hopefully, you will get to go through those gates you want to go through.”