AUGUSTA — Two of the four people charged following an incident in which gunshots erupted last summer in the Augusta Wal-Mart parking lot entered pleas Wednesday at court and saw the most serious charges against them dismissed.
Frankie Dejesus, 27, of Rochester, New York, received a two-year deferred disposition after pleading guilty to a charge of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. The special conditions of his deferred disposition require that he depart Maine by 4 p.m. Thursday and return only for meeting with his attorney or for court proceedings.
If Dejesus succeeds at remaining trouble-free for the next two years, he will be sentenced to the time he already has served in jail while awaiting trial, which is over eight months.
Dejesus, who was represented by attorney Christopher Ledwick, had no prior criminal record.
If Dejesus is unsuccessful, the length of his sentence would be determined by a judge. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
In exchange for the plea, which took place during a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center, charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault against Dejesus were dismissed by the state.
The June 26, 2016, events in the parking lot involved an exchange of gunshots between people in two vehicles in the parking lot, which was then followed by an alleged shooter — Reginald McBride — being attacked when he got out of one of the vehicles.
The fracas was broken up when armed civilian bystanders intervened.
Police at the time said the incident was related to a dispute over money and drugs. No one was injured. However, police found shell casings in the parking lot, and at least one vehicle was struck.
Also on Wednesday Samantha E. Tupper, 25, of Augusta pleaded no contest to a charge of hindering the apprehension or prosecution of McBride, a co-defendant in the case. Police said Tupper drove McBride away from the scene.
Tupper was sentenced to five months in jail, a term which is to run concurrently with a nine-month probation revocation. At the time of the incident in the Wal-Mart parking lot, Tupper was on probation on a conviction for unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs. In exchange for her plea Wednesday, a charge of unlawful furnishing of scheduled drugs dated June 26, 2016, against her was dismissed, as was a charge of trafficking in prison contraband from an incident July 6, 2016, at the jail in Augusta, when she was allegedly in possession of a syringe.
A fourth person charged after the parking lot incident, Diana M. Davis, 29, of Rochester, New York, who identified herself in court as a sister of Dejesus, pleaded no contest to an assault charge Dec. 7, 2016, and was sentenced to 100 days in jail and given credit for time served, and a $300 fine was suspended.
McBride, 39, of Harlem, New York, was in court also on Wednesday, and his case was continued until August. McBride also faces federal charges related to his possessing firearms during that Wal-Mart fracas.
He was indicted on charges of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and “carrying and discharging a firearm during, and in relation to and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.” All the charges are related to the June incident in the parking lot.
McBride was indicted in September 2016 in Kennebec County on state charges of attempted murder, aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, reckless conduct with a firearm and four counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was indicted later in state court on charges of aggravated trafficking in cocaine, stemming from an incident on March 1, 2016, in Augusta; aggravated trafficking in heroin, April 6, 2016, in Augusta; and aggravated trafficking in cocaine base, April 29, 2016, in Gardiner.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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