Patricia Westervelt jumped out of a speeding van on Route 283 to get away from the trio who kidnapped her at gunpoint in the middle of the night from her Mount Joy home.

The 41-year-old mother and former bank teller has spent the 22 months since her Oct. 3, 2005, abduction trying to recover from brain damage, hearing loss, problems walking and emotional pain suffered during the botched bank-heist plan that also left her son traumatized and her husband wounded from a gunshot.

Westervelt on Tuesday again faced one of the men involved in the plot.

Raymond Benjamin Gaines, 22, was sentenced to 24 to 50 years in state prison. He also must pay $506,772 to the Westerveltes for lost wages, medical bills and counseling.

Gaines earlier pleaded guilty to attempted homicide, burglary, robbery, criminal conspiracy, attempted kidnapping and two counts of kidnapping.

Westervelt struggled through tears for several minutes as she told Judge David L. Ashworth how difficult her life has been since being abducted.

"What (Gaines) did was unfathomable," Westervelt said. "The impact this has had on my family is beyond words. …

"I'm on medications and will require physical therapy for the rest of my life."

Gaines, the father of a 1-year-old girl, responded with an emotional plea to Westervelt for forgiveness.

"Each day I look in the mirror of my jail cell and see a worm that crawls in the dusty earth," Gaines said. "I took the easy way out to get some money. That's not the way a man takes care of his family."

"I'm ashamed of myself as a man because this is not what I was raised to be. My father taught me to stand up and take responsibility for my actions. I wish there was some way to change what I did. I'm sorry."

About 10 of Gaines' family members attended the hearing, including his parents.

Defense attorney David L. Blanck told Ashworth a series of poor decisions led Gaines into crime.

While Gaines was serving in the U.S. Army, stationed in Virginia, his pregnant girlfriend attempted suicide in Shippensburg. Gaines went absent without leave, struggled to secure an income and started using drugs.

Gaines thought he could make some quick money from the bank heist.

"The plan sounded workable and Raymond was desperate," Blanck said. "There is a sweet side to him."

The judge was unmoved.

"You are every law-abidding citizen's worst nightmare," Ashworth said. "You are indeed a very serious danger to the community."

After the hearing, two sheriffs deputies led Gaines out of the courtroom. He turned before reaching the exit and thanked his relatives for coming, saying he loved them.

Westervelt then spoke, telling Gaines, "You should die."

"What did you say?" Gaines responded, staring at Westervelt.

The exchange ended as the deputies escorted Gaines out of the courtroom.

Westervelt's husband, David J. Westervelt, 35, and her son, Chad Coble, 14, attended the hearing.

The three were forced from their home at 115 S. Barbara St. by Gaines, Amber-Sunshine Griggs, 20, and Anthony Marcus Davis, 22. Griggs and Davis are awaiting trial.

According to court documents, the three thought Patricia Westervelt had a key to the M&T Bank branch in Lower Paxton Township where she worked, and wanted her to help them take money from the vault. They put her into her own minivan and stuffed Chad in the trunk of a car.

David Westervelt broke away from the kidnappers when they tried to put him in the trunk with his stepson. Gaines shot him in the back with a .22-caliber handgun as he tried to run.

Patricia Westervelt escaped by jumping from the minivan as it traveled an estimated 120 mph along Route 283 in Dauphin County.

She was found injured along the highway in Lower Swatara Township by a passing motorist, about four hours after being abducted.

Chad was locked in the car trunk for three hours. He was released shaken but unhurt near a Wal-Mart in Carlisle.

Despite Patricia Westervelt's escape, the three attempted to burglarize the bank. However, they set off the bank alarm after unlocking the front door and fled without any money.

Later that day, a state police trooper stopped the three for speeding on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Chester County.

The three were detained after the trooper determined their Honda Civic was stolen. A loaded revolver was found in the trunk.

Mount Joy police had alerted authorities across Pennsylvania about the kidnapping, sparking a massive manhunt.

Troopers later determined the three matched the description of the kidnappers and turned them over to Mount Joy police.

E-mail: blovelace@lnpnews.com