If Gil Furman, who was charged in January with one count of second-degree child molestation and two counts of third-degree child molestation, is convicted on all counts, he will face a sentence between about four and a half years and 10 years in prison, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

Furman allegedly molested a teenage girl for two and a half years beginning when the girl was 13 and ending when she was 15, according to charging documents.

Furman — who is married with children — was 35 when the alleged molestation began.

Furman was arrested and arraigned Jan. 25, and he pleaded not guilty. He was given conditional release and a no-contact order with the girl and minors. The no-contact order was modified March 31 to allow him to be in the presence of a minor if the minor knows of the charges against him and an adult is present.

The girl reported the situation to a school adviser in November, according to charging documents.

The alleged molestation occurred weekly, and Furman allegedly pushed the girl to a wall and kissed and groped her, sometimes under her clothes but over her underwear.

She said that happened more than 50 times, usually with others nearby but out of sight.

King, the mother of three and wife of successful laser eye surgeon Dr. Joseph King, said that fear prompted her to take firearms training and obsessively monitor the video-surveillance system in their Newcastle home.

“Each day, when I drive my children to school, I wonder which stranger is going to murder us,” Holly King, 32, said in King County Superior Court on March 17.

Riffkin Dr. Michael Mockovak, Newcastle resident and co-founder of Clearly Lasik eye-surgery centers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. By Courtney Blethen

Judge Palmer Robinson granted the couple some relief from that fear by sentencing Dr. Michael Mockovak to 20 years in prison for plotting to kill Dr. King, his ex-brother-in-law, longtime friend and fellow co-founder of the Clearly Lasik laser eye-surgery centers.

Last month, a King County jury found Mockovak guilty of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft. Jurors acquitted Mockovak of a second count of criminal solicitation involving former company President Brad Klock.

Mockovak insisted that he was only kidding when he asked a Clearly Lasik employee in 2009 to find a Russian assassin to kill King, according to his defense lawyers. During March 17’s three-hour sentencing hearing, Mockovak’s lawyers said his irrational behavior was the result of stress from a contentious divorce and from emotional trauma suffered when he was sexually assaulted as a child.

The defense also blamed the Clearly Lasik employee who talked to Mockovak, a man who later worked as an FBI informant in the case, for luring an emotionally vulnerable man into the murder-for-hire scheme.

But Senior Deputy Prosecutor Mary Barbosa said Mockovak was focused on having King killed because their business was crumbling. She said the Yale-educated surgeon could have left the business and started over somewhere else, but he was driven to kill King.

Mockovak, 52, didn’t speak during March 17’s sentencing hearing. His lawyers, Jeffery Robinson and Colette Tvedt, talked about how Mockovak grew up poor and endured years of abuse at the hands of his uncle, a man who was later convicted of sexual assault.

“Our position is that his anger, his depression, his suspicion that people are conspiring against him come from his history of being abused over and over,” Robinson said.

Robinson asked the judge to give Mockovak a severely reduced sentence from two to five years in prison. Afterward, Robinson said he plans to appeal the 20-year sentence.

“I’ve been kind and trusting with the wrong man,” Joseph King, 43, said in court March 17. “I entered a business partnership with a charming sociopath.”

In the criminal charges, filed shortly after Mockovak’s 2009 arrest, prosecutors said that Mockovak was willing to pay more than $100,000 to have King and Klock killed. Mockovak was apparently angry with Klock for suing the company after he was fired, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Mockovak wanted King dead because he believed King wanted to split the company and thought his partner was taking advantage of him. The eye-surgery centers, with clinics throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, reported earnings of $17 million in 2007, but that figure had dipped to $10 million in 2008, charging documents said.

Mockovak solicited Daniel Kultin, a Clearly Lasik employee who had emigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said during his trial. Mockovak believed Kultin could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia, prosecutors said.

But Kultin reported Mockovak’s scheme to the FBI, which hired him to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony during the two-week trial.

The plan was for Mockovak to pay the assassin $25,000, while Kultin would earn $100,000 for arranging the slayings, according to the charges.

On Nov. 7, 2009, Mockovak met Kultin in Tukwila, where he paid him $10,000 cash and gave him a photo of King, charging papers said. Mockovak was arrested five days later.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com. Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Furman molested a teenage girl for two and a half years beginning when the girl was 13 and ending when she was 15, according to charging documents. He was 35 when the alleged molestation began.

Furman appeared in court March 22 for a case setting hearing, but a trial date was not set. Furman was arrested and arraigned Jan. 25, and he pleaded not guilty. He was given conditional release with a no-contact order with the girl.

The molestation occurred weekly, and Furman pushed the girl to a wall and kissed and groped her, sometimes under her clothes but over her underwear, the charging papers said.

COURTNEY BLETHEN RIFFKIN / THE SEATTLE TIMES — Dr. Michael Mockovak, Newcastle resident and co-founder of Clearly Lasik eye-surgery centers, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Fear of her family being gunned down by a man who was once part of their daily life has consumed Holly King for the past 16 months.

King, the mother of three and wife of successful laser eye surgeon Dr. Joseph King, said that fear prompted her to take firearms training and obsessively monitor the video-surveillance system in their Newcastle home.

“Each day, when I drive my children to school, I wonder which stranger is going to murder us,” Holly King, 32, said in King County Superior Court on March 17.

Judge Palmer Robinson granted the couple some relief from that fear by sentencing Dr. Michael Mockovak to 20 years in prison for plotting to kill Dr. King, his ex-brother-in-law, longtime friend and fellow co-founder of the Clearly Lasik laser eye-surgery centers.

Last month, a King County jury found Mockovak guilty of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft. Jurors acquitted Mockovak of a second count of criminal solicitation involving former company President Brad Klock.

Mockovak insisted that he was only kidding when he asked a Clearly Lasik employee in 2009 to find a Russian assassin to kill King, according to his defense lawyers. During Thursday’s three-hour sentencing hearing, Mockovak’s lawyers said his irrational behavior was the result of stress from a contentious divorce and from emotional trauma suffered when he was sexually assaulted as a child.

The defense also blamed the Clearly Lasik employee who talked to Mockovak, a man who later worked as an FBI informant in the case, for luring an emotionally vulnerable man into the murder-for-hire scheme.

But Senior Deputy Prosecutor Mary Barbosa said that Mockovak was focused on having King killed because their business was crumbling. She said the Yale-educated surgeon could have left the business and started over somewhere else, but he was driven to kill King.

Mockovak, 52, didn’t speak during Thursday’s sentencing hearing. His lawyers, Jeffery Robinson and Colette Tvedt, talked about how Mockovak grew up poor and endured years of abuse at the hands of his uncle, a man who was later convicted of sexual assault.

“Our position is that his anger, his depression, his suspicion that people are conspiring against him come from his history of being abused over and over,” Robinson said.

Robinson asked the judge to give Mockovak a severely reduced sentence of anywhere from two to five years in prison. Afterward, Robinson said he plans to appeal the 20-year sentence.

“I’ve been kind and trusting with the wrong man,” Joseph King, 43, said in court Thursday. “I entered a business partnership with a charming sociopath.”

In the criminal charges, filed shortly after Mockovak’s 2009 arrest, prosecutors said that Mockovak was willing to pay more than $100,000 to have King and Klock killed. Mockovak was apparently angry with Klock for suing the company after he was fired, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Mockovak wanted King dead because he believed King wanted to split the company and thought his partner was taking advantage of him. The eye-surgery centers, with clinics throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, reported earnings of $17 million in 2007, but that figure had dipped to $10 million in 2008, charging documents said.

Mockovak solicited Daniel Kultin, a Clearly Lasik employee who had immigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said during his trial. Mockovak believed Kultin could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia, prosecutors said.

But Kultin reported Mockovak’s scheme to the FBI, which hired him to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony during the two-week trial.

The plan was for Mockovak to pay the assassin $25,000, while Kultin would earn $100,000 for arranging the slayings, according to the charges.

On Nov. 7, 2009, Mockovak met Kultin in Tukwila, where he paid him $10,000 cash and gave him a photo of King, charging papers said. Mockovak was arrested five days later.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

The King County jury convicted Dr. Michael Mockovak of one count of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft. Jurors found him not guilty of a second count of criminal solicitation involving the company’s former president.

The jury deliberated for less than two days.

Dr. Michael Mockovak, co-founder of Clearly Lasik eye surgery centers, is escorted out of King County Court Feb. 3, after he was found guilty of plotting to kill his partner and the company's former president. By Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times

After the verdict was read, Mockovak, who has been out on bail since shortly after his arrest in November 2009, was taken into custody and led to jail. He will face between 31 and 41 years in prison when he is sentenced March 17.

Mockovak’s former partner and target of the murder-for-hire plot, Dr. Joseph King, issued a statement: “My colleagues, my family and I are relieved to put this sad episode behind us.”

Prosecutors said Mockovak was willing to pay more than $100,000 to have King and former company President Brad Klock killed.

According to the charges, Mockovak believed King was “greedy” because of his apparent plans to split the company, and thought his partner was taking advantage of him. Mockovak was apparently angry with Klock for suing the company after he was fired, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also claimed Clearly Lasik was in a slump.

The eye surgery centers have offices throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. The company reported earnings of $17 million in 2007, but that figure dipped to $10 million in 2008, charging papers said.

Mockovak solicited Daniel Kultin, a Clearly Lasik employee who had emigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said. Mockovak believed Kultin could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia, prosecutors alleged.

Kultin reported Mockovak’s alleged scheme to the FBI, and the agency hired him to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony during Mockovak’s trial.

Kultin was the prosecution’s key witness during the two-week trial.

The plan was for Mockovak to pay the assassin $25,000, while Kultin would earn $100,000 for arranging the slayings, according to the charges.

On Nov. 7, 2009, Mockovak met Kultin in Tukwila, where he paid him $10,000 cash and gave him a photo of King, charging papers said. Mockovak was arrested five days later.

But Mockovak’s lawyers contended that he never intended to hire an assassin, calling his efforts an “immature joke.” Defense lawyer Colette Tvedt said that Mockovak was “induced” and “persuaded” into the plan by Kultin.

Tvedt said Kultin was ambitious to work with the FBI.

In January, Mockovak was ordered to stop practicing medicine in Washington by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the state Department of Health. His license to practice medicine was also suspended.

After learning of the murder-for-hire plot, King and his family moved into a hotel because they were scared to return to their Newcastle home, which is only a few blocks from Mockovak’s house, court papers said.

King told investigators that the two men had been close for years and even knew the alarm codes for each other’s homes, charging papers said.

“It is incomprehensible how someone could deliberately plan to take someone’s life and completely devastate a family,” King said in a statement released shortly after Mockovak’s arrest. “My family and I were shocked and horrified to learn that a business associate was allegedly planning and ordering my murder.”

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com. Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Furman allegedly molested a teenage girl for two and a half years beginning when the girl was 13 and ending when she was 15, according to charging documents.

Furman — who is married with children — was 35 when the alleged molestation began.

Furman was arrested and arraigned Jan. 25, and he pleaded not guilty. He was given conditional release and a no-contact order with the girl.

A case setting hearing is scheduled for March 22 in King County Superior Court.

If Furman is convicted on all counts, he will face a sentence between about four and a half years and 10 years in prison, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

The girl reported the situation to a school adviser in November, according to charging documents.

The alleged molestation occurred weekly, and Furman allegedly pushed the girl to a wall and kissed and groped her, sometimes under her clothes but over her underwear.

She said that happened more than 50 times, usually with others nearby but out of sight.

NEW — 3:25 p.m. Feb. 28, 2011

The co-founder of the Clearly Lasik eye centers on Feb. 23 pleaded with a judge to deny bail for his former partner, Newcastle resident Dr. Michael Mockovak, who was convicted of targeting him in a murder-for-hire plot.

Dr. Joseph King read from an emotional three-page letter in which he urged King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson to keep Mockovak behind bars until he is sentenced on March 17.

Mockovak was ordered held in jail until his sentencing after he was convicted earlier this month of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft.

Before he was convicted, Mockovak had been free on bail since shortly after his November 2009 arrest.

“When Michael Mockovak had everything to lose, he coldly planned my murder,” King said. “Now, as he faces a prison sentence, he has nothing to lose by soliciting or causing harm to others or fleeing.”

Defense attorney Jeffery Robinson said a friend of Mockovak’s was willing to post $2 million bail so he could attend doctor’s appointments, mental-health counseling and church before he is sentenced to prison for what could amount to a life sentence.

To King, however, no amount of money or promises could put his family or his employees at ease. King called Mockovak a “cunning and decisive person.” He said his former business partner and ex-brother-in-law is fluent in Spanish and could flee to South America, and he feared that Mockovak could fulfill his threats and kill him.

Robinson ultimately turned down Mockovak’s request.

Prosecutors said Mockovak offered to pay more than $100,000 to have King, a longtime friend, and former company President Brad Klock killed.

Mockovak believed King was planning to split the company and thought King was taking advantage of him, according to the charges. Mockovak reportedly was angry with Klock for suing the company after being fired, prosecutors said.

The Yale-educated Mockovak used to be married to King’s sister.

Prosecutors also claimed Clearly Lasik was in a slump at the time Mockovak hatched the murder-for-hire plot.

Mockovak solicited a Clearly Lasik employee, who had immigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said. Mockovak believed the employee could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia, prosecutors alleged.

But the employee reported Mockovak’s alleged scheme to the FBI, which hired him to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony during the two-week trial.

Jurors deliberated for nearly two days before convicting Mockovak of four charges. Jurors found him not guilty of a second count of criminal solicitation involving Klock.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

His laser-eye-surgery business and personal life were crumbling, so an angry Dr. Michael Mockovak wasn’t beyond inappropriate outbursts, according to his lawyer.

It was one such outburst, an “immature joke” about hiring the Russian mafia to kill his business partner, that has landed the Newcastle resident and Clearly Lasik co-founder in court, accused of hatching a murder-for-hire plot against his one-time partner, lawyer Colette Tvedt said Jan. 18.

During the first day of testimony in Mockovak’s trial, jurors heard the frustration and anger from Mockovak himself — in taped recordings between him and a former Clearly Lasik employee. But his comments were viewed in entirely different lights by Tvedt and King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Mary Barbosa.

Dr. Michael Mockovak (center) appears in the courtroom of Judge Palmer Robinson on Jan. 18. Mockovak is accused of a murder-for-hire plot.

In the scratchy recordings, Mockovak can be heard telling the employee about a life-insurance policy he had on his business partner, Dr. Joseph King. Mockovak can also be heard telling the man about King’s future travel plans to Australia, as well as the times an assassin would likely find King alone during his vacation.

Barbosa, in her opening statement, said that Mockovak and King each had a $4 million life-insurance policy on each other as part of their business.

She also said Mockovak believed the employee could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia.

But Tvedt insisted the employee, a man who was apparently eager to work with the FBI, entrapped Mockovak, pushing him to move forward with the scheme.

Mockovak is on trial on two counts of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft.

In the charges, filed shortly after Mockovak’s 2009 arrest, prosecutors said Mockovak was willing to pay more than $100,000 to have King and former company President Brad Klock killed. Mockovak called King “greedy” for his apparent plans to split the company and thought King was taking advantage of him, the charges said. Mockovak was apparently mad at Klock for suing the company after he was fired, prosecutors said.

Mockovak solicited Daniel Kultin, an employee who had immigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said. Kultin reported Mockovak’s alleged scheme to the FBI, and the agency hired Kultin to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony.

Kultin was outfitted with a “body wire,” a small, discreet recording device, and given a story to tell Mockovak, according to court testimony.

Kultin, formerly the computer tech at Clearly Lasik, told Mockovak that he had a childhood friend who worked for a Russian mobster, Tvedt said. Kultin said that his friend would kill King in exchange for cash.

But Tvedt told jurors that Kultin, 34, pushed her client into the scheme. Tvedt said the recordings show that her client was “induced” and “persuaded” into the plan by Kultin.

Tvedt said Kultin was ambitious to work with the FBI.

“This case started with an immature joke,” Tvedt said in her opening statement. “If it wasn’t for Daniel Kultin and his ambitions … those words would have never turned into a crime.”

The plan was for Mockovak to pay the assassin $25,000 while the informant would earn $100,000 for arranging the slayings, charging papers said.

On Nov. 7, 2009, Mockovak met the informant in Tukwila, where he paid him $10,000 cash and gave him a photo of King, charging papers said. Mockovak was arrested five days later at the Coal Creek YMCA.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com.

Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times — Dr. Michael Mockovak, co-founder of Clearly Lasik eye surgery centers, is escorted out of King County Court Feb. 3. He was found guilty of plotting to kill his partner and the company's former president.

NEW — 1:05 p.m. Feb. 3, 2011

The co-founder of Clearly Lasik eye surgery centers was found guilty Thursday morning of plotting to kill his partner.

The King County jury convicted Dr. Michael Mockovak of one count of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree theft and attempted first-degree theft. Jurors found him not guilty of a second count of criminal solicitation involving the company’s former president.

The jury deliberated for less than two days.

After the verdict was read, Mockovak, who has been out on bail since shortly after his arrest in November 2009, was taken into custody and led to jail. He will face between 31 and 41 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 17.

Mockovak’s former partner and target of the murder-for-hire plot, Dr. Joseph King, issued a statement: “My colleagues, my family and I are relieved to put this sad episode behind us.”

Prosecutors said Mockovak was willing to pay more than $100,000 to have King and former company President Brad Klock killed.

According to the charges, Mockovak believed King was “greedy” because of his apparent plans to split the company, and thought his partner was taking advantage of him. Mockovak was apparently angry with Klock for suing the company after he was fired, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also claimed Clearly Lasik was in a slump.

The eye surgery centers have offices throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. The company reported earnings of $17 million in 2007, but that figure dipped to $10 million in 2008, charging papers said.

Mockovak solicited Daniel Kultin, a Clearly Lasik employee who had emigrated from Russia, to arrange the slayings, prosecutors said. Mockovak believed Kultin could put him in touch with a hit man for the Russian mafia, prosecutors alleged.

Kultin reported Mockovak’s alleged scheme to the FBI, and the agency hired him to work as a confidential informant, according to testimony during Mockovak’s trial.

Kultin was the prosecution’s key witness during Mockovak’s two-week trial.

The plan was for Mockovak to pay the assassin $25,000, while Kultin would earn $100,000 for arranging the slayings, according to the charges.

On Nov. 7, 2009, Mockovak met Kultin in Tukwila, where he paid him $10,000 cash and gave him a photo of King, charging papers said. Mockovak was arrested five days later.

But Mockovak’s lawyers contended that he never intended to hire an assassin, calling his efforts an “immature joke.” Defense lawyer Colette Tvedt said that Mockovak was “induced” and “persuaded” into the plan by Kultin.

Tvedt said Kultin was ambitious to work with the FBI.

Last month, Mockovak was ordered to stop practicing medicine in Washington by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission and the state Department of Health. His license to practice medicine was also suspended.

After learning of the murder-for-hire plot, King and his family moved into a hotel because they were scared to return to their Newcastle home, which is only a few blocks from Mockovak’s house, court papers said.

King told investigators that the two men had been close for years and even knew the alarm codes for each other’s homes, charging papers said.

“It is incomprehensible how someone could deliberately plan to take someone’s life and completely devastate a family,” King said in a statement released shortly after Mockovak’s arrest. “My family and I were shocked and horrified to learn that a business associate was allegedly planning and ordering my murder.”