Gainesville man sentenced to 10 years in prison for drive-by shooting
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Devin Terrell Freeman, 23, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after entering a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of attempted second-degree murder under Florida’s 10-20-Life statute.
Freeman was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder, which has a 20-year minimum, and shooting from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of a person after calls were received about someone shooting from a vehicle near 925 SW 4th Avenue at about 6:09 p.m. on October 23, 2023.
Several witnesses reportedly described the incident as a drive-by shooting; they said a small dark-colored vehicle stopped in the street and the front passenger got out and exchanged words with the victim, who was about 100 feet away. They said the suspect got back into the vehicle after the exchange, closed the door, and fired shots at the victim, then the vehicle sped away.
On April 17, Freeman entered a plea of nolo contendere to attempted second-degree murder, a lesser included offense, and shooting from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of a person. The maximum sentence for the charges is listed as 45 years on the plea agreement. According to the sentencing document, the 10-year sentence is a mandatory minimum for the second-degree murder charge, and the charge is a 10-20-Life charge.
Judge Phillip Pena adjudicated Freeman guilty on both counts and sentenced him to two concurrent sentences of 10 years in prison, with credit for 177 days served.
One less thug, good!!
Hope he’s as hard as he thinks he is, skinny little wannabe.
I don’t remember that shiner in his last mugshot, he pick that up in the AC jail?🤣
“mandatory minimum for the second-degree murder charge is 10 years in prison, and the charge is a 10-20-Life charge, meaning that subsequent qualifying offenses will result in the next sentence in the sequence.”
This is incorrect.
1) 10 years is not the minimum mandatory for (attempted) second degree murder. Nor is 20 the minimum for attempted first degree murder. There are points that determine the minimum sentence that are assigned based on the current offenses, aggravating factors , and criminal history that determine the minimum. Then there are mandatory minimums which ignore the score sheet to raise the minimum sentence. These mandatory minimums usually involve drug trafficking, gun crimes, and sex crimes.
2) 10-20-Life is not a chaining of punishments like 3 Strikes. 10 is for having the weapon during certain felonies, 20 is for discharge of the weapon during certain felonies, and 25 to Life is if someone is injured or killed during certain felonies with a firearm involved.
Why 10-20-Life? Why not just automatic Life (or Death)? Pretty easy to understand that Murder is illegal.
What a dumb ass. Glad he’ll be sitting in jail for a long time.
I know one thing this guy won’t be doing for the next 10 years and that’s shooting at innocent people from a vehicle. Maybe his stay in prison will deter him from picking up a gun next time.
In his widdle mug shot he looks rather stupid and mean. I’m glad he’s off the streets for awhile. Anyone wanna take bets on if he’ll serve his full term?
Wait, so if I’m more than 1000 ft from everyone I can legally shoot from my vehicle? I guess that means I just made plans for the weekend!
LOL