CROWN POINT | A judge sentenced Hobart resident Jimmie Batalis to 57 years in prison Tuesday for the murder of Jason Nosker, but Batalis insisted he's innocent and plans to appeal both the verdict and the sentence.

A jury convicted Batalis March 1 after hearing testimony that Batalis shot Nosker on May 2, 2003, as Nosker slept in his Hobart home.

The bullet left Nosker paralyzed from the waist down for more than three years before his death. Nosker died June 19 of blood poisoning from an infection -- a direct result of the gunshot wound, Dr. Richard Cavanaugh told jurors.

The jury convicted Batalis of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and battery.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced Batalis, 31, to 37 years for attempted murder and 57 years for murder. Vasquez ordered the sentences to run concurrently. There was no sentence on the two counts of battery.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony that Batalis' motive for shooting Nosker was jealousy of an ex-girlfriend Nosker was dating.

Before his death, Nosker gave a deposition to lawyers in which he said Batalis threatened him repeatedly and drove past his house after Batalis' ex-girlfriend moved in with Nosker weeks before the shooting.