Prison term for Schenectady accidental shooter

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A Rockland County man accused of accidentally shooting himself and his girlfriend in October pleaded guilty Friday to a felony weapons charge.

Juan Medina, 25, of Garnerville, pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. In exchange, he is to receive 51⁄2 years in prison at his September sentencing.

Schenectady County Court Judge Karen Drago indicated that she was willing to approve the sentence only because the discharge of the weapon was not intentional. Prosecutor Amy Monahan confirmed the shooting was accidental.

The victim had no objection to the plea.

Medina was arrested shortly after the Oct. 21 incident and charged with first-degree assault and other charges. He could have faced as much as 25 years in prison if convicted of the assault charge.

Monahan said the shooting happened as Medina was visiting a friend at 1311 State St. He and his friend took out their guns and showed them to each other. Medina told the friend he was jumped recently and intended to prevent that from happening again.

Talk then turned to the ease of disassembling the gun. Medina, though, forgot he had put a live round in the chamber. The gun fired, sending a bullet through his hand and into his girlfriend’s abdomen.

The girlfriend suffered damage to her kidneys and colon and was hospitalized for 10 days, Monahan has said.

The weapons plea relates to Medina’s possession of the gun, which he was not legally allowed to possess.

Medina was represented in court by attorney John Hughes of New York City.

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Categories: News, Schenectady County