A Mankato man will avoid prison time for illegal possession of a firearm if he meets probation conditions for three years.
Shea Patrick Kelly, 52, was sentenced Wednesday in Blue Earth County District Court. Apart from the felony firearm possession charge, two felonies for violent threats and reckless discharge of a firearm were dismissed against him.
The charges stemmed from a July 2022 incident in which a neighbor reported he fired a shotgun in the air after an argument with a woman. He couldn’t legally possess a firearm due to a past conviction, according to court records.
Kelly had faced a five-year sentence, two-thirds of it to be served in prison at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud. The sentence was stayed for the duration of his three years under supervised probation.
He also received local confinement of 60 days on home detention/electronic monitoring, minus two days of credit for time already served, according to a sentencing order.
Kelly’s sentence was a downward departure, meaning it’s less than the guidelines would indicate. His departure report notes he is a veteran particularly amenable to probation, is particularly amenable to treatment, shows remorse and accepts responsibility for the incident.