Man gets 10 years for firing gun C&P
Man gets 10 #8232;years in prison for firing gun
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI
WOODSTOCK - The 23-year-old man involved in a police standoff in McHenry last year was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for shooting a gun inside an occupied garage.
Scott F. Gallagher, formerly of Wauconda, could have been sentenced to between six and 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Nov. 3 to aggravated discharge of a firearm. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped lesser charges of weapon possession by a felon and battery.
McHenry police were called to a rental home where Gallagher had been staying for weeks at 1:20 a.m. Jan. 24. A witness reported that Gallagher had become angry, waved a gun around with several people inside and fired two shots, police previously said.
Gallagher did not answer the door, calls from a loudspeaker or cellular phone calls, so authorities ultimately forced their way into the home on West Vine Street. Roads in the area were blocked until about 7:30 a.m.
During a sentencing hearing Thursday, Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof asked McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather to consider Gallagher's struggles with alcohol, which was an issue the night of the standoff. Behof emphasized that Gallagher had not fired directly at anyone and requested an eight-year sentence.
Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Blackney requested a 20-year sentence, pointing to Gallagher's two previous prison sentences for residential burglaries.
Just before learning his sentence, Gallagher apologized for his actions.
"I made a bad decision by using a gun," he told Prather.
LINK
http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/01/07/r_5htsap3htkwgsrpv00gncw/index.xml
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI
WOODSTOCK - The 23-year-old man involved in a police standoff in McHenry last year was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for shooting a gun inside an occupied garage.
Scott F. Gallagher, formerly of Wauconda, could have been sentenced to between six and 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Nov. 3 to aggravated discharge of a firearm. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped lesser charges of weapon possession by a felon and battery.
McHenry police were called to a rental home where Gallagher had been staying for weeks at 1:20 a.m. Jan. 24. A witness reported that Gallagher had become angry, waved a gun around with several people inside and fired two shots, police previously said.
Gallagher did not answer the door, calls from a loudspeaker or cellular phone calls, so authorities ultimately forced their way into the home on West Vine Street. Roads in the area were blocked until about 7:30 a.m.
During a sentencing hearing Thursday, Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof asked McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather to consider Gallagher's struggles with alcohol, which was an issue the night of the standoff. Behof emphasized that Gallagher had not fired directly at anyone and requested an eight-year sentence.
Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Blackney requested a 20-year sentence, pointing to Gallagher's two previous prison sentences for residential burglaries.
Just before learning his sentence, Gallagher apologized for his actions.
"I made a bad decision by using a gun," he told Prather.
LINK
http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2010/01/07/r_5htsap3htkwgsrpv00gncw/index.xml
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
0 comments