ERIE -- For his role in the "incredibly bizarre and the sadly tragic" death of the Erie pizza bomber, Kenneth Barnes yesterday was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin imposed a sentence that was significantly higher than the top of the recommended guideline range of nearly 34 years because Mr. Barnes was intimately involved in planning the Aug. 28, 2003, incident. He said Mr. Barnes provided information on what components to use in the collar bomb that was affixed to the neck of pizza deliveryman Brian Wells before he entered a PNC Bank on Peach Street to rob it.

"To me, the callousness and complete lack of regard by this defendant is, in a word, chilling," the judge said in pronouncing sentence.

It is essentially a life term for Mr. Barnes, who is 55 and has heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. He pleaded guilty to two counts -- conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and abetting the use of the collar bomb -- in September.

Defense attorneys, who were asking for a 35-year prison sentence, said their client has cooperated extensively in the investigation and characterized his involvement in the crime as minimal.

Prosecutors argued that anyone involved in such a violent, dangerous plot that put the public at risk is equally culpable under the law.

The U.S. attorney's office angered Mr. Wells' family last year when it was announced that he was involved in the plot that eventually led to his death.

That anger has not diminished as Mr. Wells' sister continued to deny those allegations during the sentencing hearing. She further criticized police and prosecutors who worked the case, saying there was no concrete evidence to link her brother to the crime.

"Who would choose to wear a live collar bomb set to detonate in 55 minutes?" asked Jean Heid. "Brian [was] an innocent man who was caught in the snare of evildoers through no fault of his own."

In a speech filled with religious references, Ms. Heid told Mr. Barnes he could seek redemption.

"Believe it or not, I pray with my family for your soul to be converted and brought to justice," she said, looking at him. "Ken, there is hope for you today."

Mr. Barnes spoke briefly to Judge McLaughlin, apologizing to him and to the Wells family.

"What had happened to him wasn't supposed to be," the defendant said.

No one else spoke on his behalf. Mr. Barnes' half-brother, Rick Barnes, sat near the Wells family during the sentencing and spoke briefly with Ms. Heid.

"I just told her I was sorry for what happened to her brother. I know he doesn't feel bad for her, but I do," he said.

Rick Barnes has not visited his half-brother since he was indicted and said he has no intentions of seeing him again.

"He's nothing short of an animal," he said. "He has no remorse. What he did up there, talking at that podium, was a scam.

"He's a master con artist."

It took nearly four years for investigators to piece together what happened that day in 2003.

In the spring of that year, a co-defendant in the case, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, spoke to Mr. Barnes about killing her father because she was angry at him for spending her inheritance. Mr. Barnes told the woman he'd need $200,000 to do it, and they began planning the bank robbery.

Several people were involved, though only Mr. Barnes and Ms. Diehl-Armstrong were charged. No other indictments are expected.

Mr. Barnes told agents investigating the case that Mr. Wells was to wear a fake explosive device into the bank. But what he later was forced to wear was a real device, constructed out of two pipe bombs, angle iron, flat bar and steel.

The device was put on when Mr. Wells delivered two pizzas to an address near a telephone tower after 1:30 p.m. that day. He walked into the PNC Bank at 2:20 p.m. and exited 12 minutes later with $8,702. He was quickly apprehended by police officers responding to the bank robbery.

Mr. Wells denied involvement in the plot and instead said he was forced to wear the bomb and rob the bank by a group of men. As law enforcement waited for the bomb squad to arrive, the device exploded, killing Mr. Wells.

Yesterday, Ms. Heid continued to question why none of the officers tried to remove the bomb from her brother that afternoon.

"There are so many questions and still no answers," she said. "Brian was in no way planning to be involved in a bank robbery that day. I can't believe Brian's good name has been unjustly smeared for five years."