Man rejects plea deal, gets sentence of 184 years

Published 4:40 pm Tuesday, November 8, 2011

SPOKANE — A Spokane man who rejected a plea deal that would have allowed him to serve 10 to 12 years in prison has instead been sentenced to 184½ years.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt sentenced 27-year-old Gregory Sharkey Jr. last month for 10 counts of first-degree assault stemming from a crime spree in 2009 in which shots were fired at a police officer and at a group of people outside a home.

State law requires that sentences for violent felonies be served consecutively. The first count of first-degree assault carried a range of 24 to 29 years. The remaining nine counts each brought 17 to 20 years.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Mark Cipolla said Sharkey was offered a much lower plea deal, but chose to have a bench trial instead.

Sharkey has appealed his convictions.