EVERETT — An Everett man told a judge Tuesday that desperation led him to pick up a gun and carjack a woman outside a grocery store.
Robert Koppel, 28, developed an addiction to prescription painkillers after he injured his back in an industrial accident. He planned to rob his drug dealer but ended up forcing a woman to drive off at gunpoint. He also fired the weapon inside the car to scare the woman.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz on Tuesday sentenced Koppel to nine years in prison.
Koppel pleaded guilty in July to first-degree attempted robbery with a firearm and second-degree assault with a firearm. Koppel must serve six years for the weapons enhancements but will be eligible to earn credit for good behavior in prison on the remaining three years.
Koppel had no prior felony convictions before the Dec. 29 incident.
Investigators believe Koppel and co-defendant Camino Gahagan hid in the backseat of a woman’s car while she and her friends went inside a grocery store on Everett Mall Way.
When the woman slid into the driver’s seat, Koppel put a gun to her head, demanded money and forced her to drive. The woman told investigators that Gahagan told Koppel to shoot her after he counted to three, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson wrote in court papers. When Gahagan finished counting, Koppel fired a .45-caliber gun next to the woman’s head. The round struck the windshield.
The police quickly arrested the suspects thanks to the help of a United Parcel Service driver, who followed the car after hearing two people yelling for help inside the store.
Police believe the boyfriend of the woman’s friend was the intended target.
The victim was not at Tuesday’s hearing.
Koppel did not intend to harm the woman, his attorney Mark Mestel said Tuesday.
His client is an engaging and intelligent person, who unfortunately became hooked on the painkillers doctors prescribed him after he injured his back, Mestel said.
“Once Oxycontin got a hold of him, essentially he was a slave to that drug,” Mestel said.
Koppel’s family asked the judge for leniency. They said Koppel had become a different person after he became addicted to painkillers.
Koppel apologized. He said he knows what he did was wrong. “Please understand my actions were influenced by the severity of my addiction,” Koppel said.
Kurtz acknowledged that Koppel didn’t have any prior felony convictions and had taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty. The judge also noted that a powerful drug addiction likely led to Koppel to commit the crimes.
“However, many drug addicts do not resort to violent activity,” the judge said.
Gahagan is scheduled to go to trial later this fall.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com.
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