62-year-old Edward Ates was given the maximum sentence allowable for the brutal murder of Paul Duncsak. Judge Harry Carroll, who handed down the sentence, called the killing "a cold and calculated execution."
Before the decision was announced, Ates addressed the courtroom that was crowded with relatives of the victim as well as several of the jurors who convicted him.
"All I can say is, I'm innocent," Ates said. "The jury got it wrong. This is a terrible miscarriage of justice."
During the six-week trial, Ates' lawyer told jurors his client, who weighed a whopping 285 pounds at the time of the killing, wouldn't have the energy to actually shoot Duncsak and escape to Louisiana.
Ates' weight has caused a myriad of health problems including asthma, sleep apnea and other ailments, his lawyer had said.
However, prosecutors claim Ates drove from Florida to Duncsak's home in Ramsey, New Jersey, climbed a staircase and shot the 40-year-old.
When the shooting occurred, Duncsak and Ates' daughter were reportedly involved in a bitter custody dispute following their divorce.
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