TIONESTA, Forest County — Gregory Angert stood in the front of a Forest County courtroom and pulled out a letter.

Reading it to the judge seated in front of him, he recounted memories with his father — attending family picnics, going to antique car shows and raising horses together.

Watching from courtroom pews, other family members dabbed their eyes and nodded in remembrance.

Moments before he folded up the letter and returned it to his pocket, Gregory Angert of Butler made a final plea.

“I request, your honor, that you sentence Ruth Maxine Angert to the most severe punishment,” he said.

Forest County Judge Gregory Hammond obliged at the sentencing hearing Friday, but not before blasting the woman accused of fatally shooting Gregory’s father, 68-year-old Larry Angert, at the couple’s camp near Tionesta in 2012.

“You have not accepted full responsibility for your conduct, and I have not heard any remorse from you, just how you’re going to move on with your life when you’re released,” Hammond scolded Angert, 59, of Clearfield Township, Butler County.

He sentenced her to 2 to 5 years in state prison — the top of the aggravated range of state sentencing guidelines.

A jury Feb. 21 convicted Angert of involuntary manslaughter in Larry’s death. But she was acquitted of more serious charges including first- and third-degree murder.

Testifying in her own defense at the two-day trial, the defendant said she accidentally shot her husband Nov. 17, 2012, after an argument turned physical.

She claimed she did not know why she grabbed her husband’s .38-caliber revolver that was on the kitchen table, but insisted she did not know it was loaded. She said the gun fired while she and Larry struggled over it.

He died of a single gunshot to the head.

Prosecutors disputed her claim of an accidental shooting.

Forest County District Attorney Elizabeth Ziegler argued that Angert was mad at her husband for looking at another woman while the couple attended a gun and turkey raffle earlier that night at the Tionesta fire hall.

Angert was so angry, Ziegler said, that she walked back to the camp two miles away but had no key to get inside. She had to wait in the cold for Larry to drive back.

The two immediately argued.

Ziegler told the jury that as soon as Angert went for the gun, she put her finger on the trigger, intending to kill her husband.

Jurors in their verdict found that Angert’s conduct was reckless or grossly negligent but they determined she did not intentionally shoot Larry.

“I’m pleased (Hammond) gave her the most that he was allowed to, under the law,” Ziegler said following Friday’s sentencing. “I wasn’t anticipating it but I’m very glad he did.”

For Angert, she faced a minimum range of 9 to 18 months, with an additional six months because the jury found she used a deadly weapon.

However, Angert’s attorney, Todd Woodin called the sentence “unfair,” believing Hammond erred in going beyond the standard guidelines range. He vowed to appeal the sentence.

Woodin also disagreed with the judge’s opinion that Angert had avoided responsibility and lacked remorse for her husband’s death.

But Angert’s demeanor, her claim of an accidental shooting and her trial testimony that portrayed Larry as a less than fit husband infuriated the victim’s family.

They got the chance to confront Angert and vent their emotions at Friday’s hearing.

They referred to her as jealous, disturbed, insincere and selfish.

But just as important as having that say, they admitted, was their chance to restore Larry’s good name.

“He maintained the home while you worked,” said Larry’s sister, Debra Morrow of Petrolia, addressing Angert, a social worker at the Irene Stacy Community Mental Health Center in Butler

Morrow said, “He cooked, cleaned, did laundry, built the swing set for the grand kids, maintained the outside of the home, constantly improved the landscaping at camp, showered the grand kids with gifts and helped your daughter, Tracy, with things around the house.”

The defendant and Larry, a retired laborer, married in 2006. For each, it was their second marriage. Both had two children from their prior relationships.

One of Angert’s daughters, Tracy Davis of Butler, delivered a victim impact statement — but not for her mother.

She discounted her mother’s account of the shooting and proclaimed her love for her stepfather.

“Larry’s shoes are hard shoes to fill,” Davis said. “He was an amazing man. He was a veteran, car enthusiast, great cook and all around good person.”

His family spoke of Larry’s special love for daughter Stacie, who is mentally disabled.

”She doesn’t understand what happened,” Gregory said of his sister, “only that he’s gone and Ruth had something to do with it. She cries for dad and wants to visit the grave often.”

Ella Bauldoff of Chicora, Larry’s step sister-in-law, remembered his one and only true love — his first wife of nearly 40 years, Sally, who died suddenly in 2003 of an aneurysm.

“I want to thank (Angert) for one thing,” Bauldoff said. “Larry is now with the woman he belongs with, the love of his life, Sally. They can now be together for all of eternity.”

The defendant, who has been in the Warren County Jail without bail since her arrest, showed no emotion throughout the hearing.

Given the chance to speak, she said little.

“I’m so sorry for Larry’s death,” she said. “I take on the responsibility of my consequences and actions. May God give me the strength to pick up the pieces and go on.”

Family members declined to comment, with one momentary exception.

Morrow declared: “Justice has been served.”