spectr17
09-28-2001, 12:48 AM
Deal takes guns away from gun club leader
By MIKE HOYEM, Ft. Myers News Press.
The president of the New Fort Myers Gun Club must give up his firearms as part of a plea agreement reached in the shooting of a burglary suspect.
Morris G. Gallo, 53, of San Carlos Park was arrested June 4, nearly six months after he fired two rounds from a 9 mm handgun at a pair of burglary suspects he caught driving away from his home.
One bullet hit Alejo Guerrero, 19, in the back. He was driving the vehicle. Jared C. Smith, 17, wasn’t injured.
Gallo told investigators he heard a noise outside his house at about 2:45 a.m. and went outside carrying his pistol.
The teen-agers — who had taken a stereo from Gallo’s car — went to police after the shooting for help.
Guerrero was hospitalized for his wound. Both were charged with petty theft and burglary.
After an investigation, Gallo was charged with discharging a firearm in public and shooting a deadly missile into a house or vehicle.
The case was headed for a September court date when Gallo entered into a plea agreement Aug. 31 that was finalized Sept. 13.
Gallo pleaded no contest to the shooting a deadly missile charge and the other charge was dropped. He was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $250. He also was told to pay $306 in court costs, a $25 prosecution fee and was ordered to have no contact with Guerrero and Smith.
Gallo was ordered to forfeit the gun he used in the shooting to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and was told he can’t own, carry or possess any firearms during his probation.
State Division of Corporations records list Gallo as president of the New Fort Myers Gun Club Inc.
Gallo — who can ask the court to end his probation after 18 months — declined comment Tuesday.
State attorney’s office spokesman Tony Schall said both teen-agers pleaded no contest to the charges against them.
He said Gallo received probation because he had no prior convictions and because “the guys he shot at provoked the incident.”
“There was a significant mitigating factor in that,” Schall said. “They were creating a felony at the time he shot at them.”
Schall added if Gallo has other firearms besides the pistol, he’ll need to get rid of them.
“He cannot possess any guns during his probation period,” Schall said. “If he is found to be in violation of his probation, then he’s facing some real problems.”
By MIKE HOYEM, Ft. Myers News Press.
The president of the New Fort Myers Gun Club must give up his firearms as part of a plea agreement reached in the shooting of a burglary suspect.
Morris G. Gallo, 53, of San Carlos Park was arrested June 4, nearly six months after he fired two rounds from a 9 mm handgun at a pair of burglary suspects he caught driving away from his home.
One bullet hit Alejo Guerrero, 19, in the back. He was driving the vehicle. Jared C. Smith, 17, wasn’t injured.
Gallo told investigators he heard a noise outside his house at about 2:45 a.m. and went outside carrying his pistol.
The teen-agers — who had taken a stereo from Gallo’s car — went to police after the shooting for help.
Guerrero was hospitalized for his wound. Both were charged with petty theft and burglary.
After an investigation, Gallo was charged with discharging a firearm in public and shooting a deadly missile into a house or vehicle.
The case was headed for a September court date when Gallo entered into a plea agreement Aug. 31 that was finalized Sept. 13.
Gallo pleaded no contest to the shooting a deadly missile charge and the other charge was dropped. He was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $250. He also was told to pay $306 in court costs, a $25 prosecution fee and was ordered to have no contact with Guerrero and Smith.
Gallo was ordered to forfeit the gun he used in the shooting to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and was told he can’t own, carry or possess any firearms during his probation.
State Division of Corporations records list Gallo as president of the New Fort Myers Gun Club Inc.
Gallo — who can ask the court to end his probation after 18 months — declined comment Tuesday.
State attorney’s office spokesman Tony Schall said both teen-agers pleaded no contest to the charges against them.
He said Gallo received probation because he had no prior convictions and because “the guys he shot at provoked the incident.”
“There was a significant mitigating factor in that,” Schall said. “They were creating a felony at the time he shot at them.”
Schall added if Gallo has other firearms besides the pistol, he’ll need to get rid of them.
“He cannot possess any guns during his probation period,” Schall said. “If he is found to be in violation of his probation, then he’s facing some real problems.”