Indiana Man Gets 35 Years for Firing Shotgun at 4 People
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A western Indiana man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of firing a shotgun at four people.
Forty-two-year-old John Wesley Thomas was convicted of attempted murder, criminal recklessness and other charges in the January 2015 incident.
The Tribune-Star reports (http://bit.ly/1OJgIzX ) Thomas maintained at trial that the shooting outside a house in Terre Haute was in self-defense after he was threatened by a gun-wielding man.
Defense attorney James Organ said at Monday's sentencing that the shooting was a "case of people being caught in the middle of a dispute" between Thomas and another man.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Rob Roberts cited Thomas' lengthy criminal history and other factors in requesting a 35-year sentence for Thomas' attempted murder conviction. He called Thomas "a danger to society."
Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press