ST. HELENS (AP) - A Clatskanie man who pleaded guilty to firing shots at motorists driving through his hometown has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Gregory Gibson, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of assault and two counts of recklessly endangering another person; in exchange, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge against him.

Gibson, a Rainier High School graduate and former Marine, admitted to taking a rifle and shooting Scott Lannan, who had been driving a pickup on Highway 30 the afternoon of April 26.

Doctors at St. John Medical Center removed bullet fragments from Lannan's liver, and he was in serious condition for several days.

Lannan, who attended Wednesday's court hearing, told Gibson he hopes that prison time will help straighten out his life.

Gibson's attorney, Robert Lucas of Rainier, said at the time of the shooting, Gibson had been depressed after being unemployed since October, when he was discharged from the Marines after serving 18 months.

"He didn't intend on hurting anyone," Lucas said. "Why in the world he shot at fenders, no one knows."

Tami Lannan, Scott Lannan's wife, said she felt bad for Gibson's family, with whom she shares mutual acquaintances.

"Everybody knows everybody (in Clatskanie). My friends go to church with his family and my children go to school with his brother and sister," she told The Longview Daily News after the sentencing. "I heard really good things about their family. ... It must be very hard for them."