A Lopez Island man who upped the ante during an alcohol-fueled argument by firing off two rounds from a shotgun near his wife’s head and trying to toss a can of gun powder into the wood-burning stove of their home was sentenced last week to five months in jail.
However, the total amount of time that he spends behind bars could add up to just 30 days.
On Aug. 21, Michael Dewey Augustine, 47, was ordered to serve five months in jail and to pay $1,725 in fines and fees as part of a sentence handed down in San Juan County Superior Court. Augustine pleaded guilty in early July to third-degree assault and to possession of explosives without a license, both of which are Class C felonies, and to DUI, a gross misdemeanor.
Under the sentence, Augustine must serve a minimum of 30 days behind bars and would then be allowed to serve the remaining four months on work crew in lieu of jail. Or, similarly, he could opt instead to enroll at an in-patient substance-abuse treatment center and would receive “day-for-day” credit off the jail term by successfully completing whatever type of treatment program the staff at that facility recommends.
Augustine had been ordered by the court to undergo evaluations for substance abuse and anger management prior to sentencing.
According to court documents, Augustine grabbed a double-barreled shotgun as an ongoing dispute with his wife escalated into a heated exchange and then, after a brief lull, followed her into the couple’s bedroom where he fired two rounds about a foot away from her head. The blasts struck and shattered two windows and sent shards of shattered glass raining down onto the bed of their Gillnetter Lane home.
In the ensuing chaos, Augustine, according to prosecutors, pulled out a knife and slashed a mattress and then chased his wife through the house, grabbed her cell-phone as she tried to call 911, and tossed it into the a wood-burning stove. She prevented him from heaving a one-pound can of combustible black powder – ammunition for the shotgun – into the stove as he threatened to burn down the house.
The couple’s two teenage sons, heeding their mother’s command, fled the home and ran to a neighbor’s house where they called authorities for help. Augustine, who drove away shortly after the altercation, was taken into custody near his home.
Third-degree assault and possession of explosives without a license each carry maximum penalties of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both; however, the standard range of sentencing set by the state is one to three months in jail. Prosecutors had recommended that Augustine serve a total of eight months in jail, or on work crew.
Initially, Augustine had been charged with second-degree assault and attempted arson, Class B felonies, and with a pair of gross misdemeanors following his arrest in mid-April. Charges of attempted arson and interfering with reporting of domestic violence were dismissed at the time he pleaded guilty to the lesser felonies and to DUI.
