Man facing 120-year sentence for firing gun gets time served

Published: Updated:
MGN Online

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – A Florida man who was facing a 120-year sentence for firing two shots that caused no injuries is now a free man.

The Florida Times-Union (http://goo.gl/bgYnEQ) reports that 58-year-old Randal Ratledge of Jacksonville was sentenced Friday to 117 days in jail and received credit for 117 days he’s already served.

Ratledge had been charged with six counts of aggravated assault after a 2012 incident involving his neighbors. Authorities said Rutledge fired shots in the air and screamed profanities at the six neighbors. Under Florida’s 10-20-Life law, anyone convicted of a crime involving the firing of a gun gets a prison sentence of at least 20 years.

But jurors acquitted Ratledge of two of the charges and reduced the other four to misdemeanors. Then a judge combined the four misdemeanors to one count of improper exhibition of a firearm.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.