BALTIMORE (AP) – A man who shot and wounded a priest who had allegedly molested him as a boy pleaded guilty to gun charges Thursday and was let off without a prison sentence.
“It’s a big relief,” said Dontee Stokes, a 28-year-old barber. “I’m thankful to have the support of other victims and the support of the community.”
Stokes had already served 18 months under house arrest.
A jury acquitted him in 2002 of attempted murder and other charges in the shooting of the Rev. Maurice Blackwell. Stokes told jurors he had an “out-of-body experience” when he shot the Roman Catholic priest three times with a .357 Magnum handgun for allegedly molesting him as a teenager between 1989 and 1992.
Stokes was convicted of carrying a handgun, firing a handgun within city limits, and transporting a handgun in a vehicle, and was sentenced to 18 months of home confinement.
An appeals court overturned the conviction in February and granted him a new trial because alternate jurors were allowed to take part in deliberations. But Stokes pleaded guilty instead.
Under Maryland law, he could not get a stiffer sentence than the one originally imposed.
“We’re elated,” said Stokes’ attorney, Warren Brown, standing outside the courthouse. “We walked up these same steps … 26 months ago, and he was facing life in prison. The state thought they were doing us a favor by offering us 25 years.”
Blackwell goes on trial Aug. 30 on charges of molesting Stokes. The former priest could get up to 60 years in prison.
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