WILMETTE, Ill. -- A 31-year-old South Side man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for twice breaking into a Wilmette home late last year before being shot by the homeowner.

Skokie Judge Timothy J. Chambers imposed the sentence for Morio Billings after the defendant pleaded guilty to one count each of residential burglary and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Before he was sentenced, Billings apologized to the homeowner, Hale DeMar, and told the judge the "disease of (drug) addiction" had taken over his life at the time of the burglaries.

"I'd respectfully like to apologize to Mr. DeMar for entering his premises without consent and placing his personal well-being in jeopardy," Billings said in a soft voice, standing before the court in a tan jail outfit. "My addiction has plagued me, but I believe I have found the answer."

Billings said drug treatment he received while in jail has turned his life around.

DeMar, 55, of 35 Linden Ave. in Wilmette, was not in the courtroom.

Billings, of 2126 S. Trumbull Ave. in Chicago, first entered DeMar's home at 11 p.m. on Dec. 28, 2003, through a pet door in the garage, Assistant State's Attorney Marshall Libert said at Billings' bond hearing. The man then walked into the kitchen through an unlocked door and began rummaging around the house, taking a TV, a Sony PlayStation, keys to the residence and a BMW X5 sport-utility vehicle, Libert said.

When the defendant returned to the home the next night in the stolen SUV, he triggered the house alarm system as he entered through the front door, according to Libert. The owner told police he had just put his children, ages 8 and 10, to bed when he heard the alarm. After going down the stairs, he saw the masked burglar in the kitchen and fired a shot, Libert said.

The man then ran toward DeMar and he fired again, according to Libert. Although he was struck by both shots, Billings jumped through a front glass window and ran to the BMW, which he had parked a block away, Libert said.

He fled but was arrested at Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston a short time later, where he sought treatment for the wounds, police said. Billings, who has a lengthy criminal history, had been held in lieu of a $3 million bond since his arrest.

Police later charged DeMar with one misdemeanor count of possessing a firearm without a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card, and he was also cited for violating a village code that prohibits possession of handguns in Wilmette. But in February, the Cook County state's attorney's office declined to prosecute the misdemeanor charge, saying that to do so would "violate the spirit of the law."

"To prosecute this case would violate the spirit of the law and would be a narrow-minded approach," Assistant State's Attorney Steve Goebel said in a statement.

He said that DeMar purchased the handgun legally and that the state considered it simply a "memory lapse" that he forgot to obtain his FOI card. Violation of the village ordinance is a petty offense carrying a maximum fine of $750 upon conviction. Information about the status of the citation was not immediately available Thursday.

In defending the decision to cite DeMar with violating the 15-year-old handgun ordinance, Wilmette officials said that although the homeowner fired at Billings in defense of his house and family, the outcome could have been much different.

"It would be unfortunate and potentially tragic to conclude from this incident that Wilmette families will be safer if they keep a handgun in their homes," police Chief George Carpenter said in a news release at the time. "The opposite is true. Wilmette families are in greater danger if they keep a handgun at home."

Carpenter said handguns are far more likely to be stolen, used in a domestic argument or suicide attempt, or accidentally discharged in the home than they are to be used in self-defense.

Before being led away by sheriff's deputies Thursday, Billings asked the judge to enter an order allowing him to return to drug treatment once in prison.

"I can't order it, but I'll certainly enter the request in the record," Chambers said.

Chambers said Billings could have faced from four to 15 years in prison on each count if convicted at trial.