HILO — A man was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison for kidnapping a Kurtistown woman, binding her to a tree in a remote Kau forest, shooting her repeatedly and leaving her for dead.

Under a plea agreement, Hilo Circuit Judge Glenn Hara sentenced 36-year-old Rodney Dean Bohol to 20 years for kidnapping and 10 years each for first-degree assault and possession of firearms as a convicted felon. The two 10-year sentences are to run concurrently but consecutively to the kidnapping conviction.

Bohol has 34 prior convictions on both misdemeanor and felony charges, including kidnapping, assault, terroristic threatening, burglary, violating probation, abuse of a family member, violating a protective order and harassment.

Under mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, Bohol could be free in six years and eight months.

Later in the day, Bohol's cousins and co-defendants, Jody Lassen, 35, and Danolin Souza, 37, were each sentenced to two years in jail and 10 years probation. The women, who are sisters, were the state's primary witnesses against Bohol. Souza was allowed to remain free until April 14 to complete a drug treatment program. Lassen was taken into custody after sentencing.

In July 2007, the three beat Raquel Dias-Nicholson, then 23, and forced her into the trunk of a car. They then drove her to a remote area of Waiohinu, bound her to a tree with duct tape to her wrists and ankles, then shot her numerous times with a sawed-off shotgun loaded with birdshot.

Dias-Nicholson was able to free herself after her attackers left. She said she spent about five days wandering around, believing she might be somewhere near Saddle Road, police said.

County water workers found Dias-Nicholson near an unpaved, four-wheel drive trail. She was taken by helicopter to Kona Community Hospital, where she was treated.

Deputy Prosecutor Kanani Laubach said that Dias-Nicholson still has pellets in her body from the shooting.

"I wish she could be here today," Laubach said after the court proceeding. "She wanted to be, but she is still afraid to leave her house."

Prosecutors dropped some charges against Bohol, including two counts of intimidating a witness, first-degree sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, and second-degree promotion of prison contraband after he agreed to plea no contest.

He steadfastly denied that he was the triggerman, saying he made the plea deal to avoid a life sentence. He accused Lassen and Souza of being Dias-Nicholson's assailants.

"The state's plea agreement was with the two individuals who actually committed the crime," said Bohol's attorney, Steve Strauss, who argued for a 20-year sentence for his client. "They got a very sweet deal and they did it."

Strauss described Bohol as an "experienced hunter" and said that Dias-Nicholson's gunshot wounds were not the work of an experienced hunter.

"If he had tried to kill this girl — if he was there — he would have killed her," Strauss said.

"People said he did it, but there is no forensic evidence linking him with it. There is no weapon, no DNA evidence, no fingernail scrapings, no corroborating evidence that Bohol was in the public places they said he was."

Strauss also attacked the credibility of Dias-Nicholson, who, like Bohol, Lassen and Souza, has a history of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice" use.

"How certain can we be of the recollection of a traumatized person with a very serious addiction?" he queried.

Laubach said that the "one chink" in Bohol's plan is that Dias-Nicholson "lived four days and nights with no food, drinking from puddles."

"When she was asked who shot her, she said 'Rodney Bohol,'" Laubach asserted. "Why did she answer 'Rodney Bohol?' Because that's the person who shot her."

Laubach said that her star witnesses, while culpable in the crime, were still credible.

"To catch a bad guy, sometimes you have to make a deal with the bad people who hang out with the bad guy."