A Saratoga Springs man convicted in December 2010 of shooting another man in the leg, was sentenced to seven and a half years in a state correctional facility and five years of post release supervision on Thursday, March 3, according to Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy.
Frederick W. Clark, Jr., 48, was sentenced for assault in the first degree, a class B violent felony; making a false punishable written instrument; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree; and two counts of unlawful possession of marijuana.
Clark was convicted on Dec. 14 after a 10 day jury trial where he was found to have intentionally and unjustifiably shot Jerson Vargas in the leg with a 30/30 lever action rifle, causing serious physical injury, according to information from Murphy’s office. The jury also found that Clark deliberately lied to police in a written statement after he was caught 11 hours later and that he was in possession of a small amount of cocaine and marijuana at the time, according to Murphy’s office.
Murphy said the court could have imposed a broad range of sentences, between five and 25 years in prison and between two and a half and five years post release supervision and that The People recommended a sentence of 20 years in a state correctional facility and five years of post release supervision because Clark was armed with a weapon and caused serious physical injury to an unarmed person.
`Any time someone uses a gun and shoots someone in our community it is a very dangerous and concerning matter. We were pleased with the jury’s verdict. The victim spent a significant time in the hospital, spent one year in a wheel chair and another year taking antidepressants and pain medication,` said Murphy in a statement.
The defendant will be immediately transferred from the Saratoga County Jail to The Downstate Correctional Facility at Fishkill.“
