Joseph Coolidge, Jr, 46, of Aleknagik pled guilty to a felony "cause fear of injury with a weapon" charge, and misdemeanor weapons misconduct.
DILLINGHAM: Joseph Coolidge Jr., 46, of Aleknagik, will be released from custody Tuesday following a plea bargain with State prosecutors reached earlier in the day. The plea deal avoided a trial scheduled for this week.
Coolidge entered guilty pleas on both a felony assault in the third degree charge for causing "fear of injury" with a weapon, and a misdemeanor weapons misconduct charge.
Potential jurors were still standing by at the courthouse Tuesday morning for what was to be day two of jury selection for the trial.
According to the deal reached with State prosecutors, Coolidge received a three year sentence with two years suspended, meaning he had one year of jail time. But Coolidge has been in custody since his arrest last September, and accounting for "good time", Judge Vanessa White ordered he be released based on time already served.
As part of his sentencing, Coolidge will remain on felony probation for the next two years, with the condition that he not consume any alcohol during that time.
Coolidge was arrested by State Troopers from Dillingham and the VPSO in Aleknagik following a scary set of events the night of September 25th last year. Troopers report that Coolidge was heavily intoxicated, and got into an altercation with Ray Andrews at the home of Richard Andrew on Hyak Island. Coolidge grabbed a shotgun out of his boat, waved it around and fired it four times.
At one point he aimed it near Richard Andrew and said "the next time I will kill you."
Troopers alleged that one of the shotgun pellets actually struck Andrew just below the jaw, and a small amount of blood was seen on his shirt collar.
Coolidge reloaded the shotgun and fired several more shots. In the house nearby, Katherine Andrew and her three year old daughter sat in the dark with the doors locked.
Then the incident ended, and one witness statement noted that all three men hugged before Coolidge left the scene.
He was later arrested and had remained in custody leading up to the trial.
Coolidge has a previous felony conviction for vehicle theft from 1997, and a felony DUI conviction from 2010. Based on those felony convictions, he should not have been in possession of a firearm, though federal prosecutors have shown no interest in pursuing the case.