Shooting suspect gets jail sentence

SANDPOINT — A Sandpoint man accused of firing on an occupied dwelling last spring was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to serve four months in jail.

Muhammad Ali Mujtaba Jr., 19, was given credit for two weeks he had already served and placed on three years of probation. No fine was imposed, although he was ordered to pay $450 in court costs, records show.

District Judge Lansing Haynes imposed the sentence on Aug. 30.

Mujtaba and two other teens were implicated in the March 7 shooting incident in the 400 block of Jefferson Ave. No injuries were reported, but a bullet fired from a stolen 9-millimeter pistol nearly hit two people in one of the apartments, according to Sandpoint Police.

The gunfire was apparently intended to frighten the occupants of an apartment next to the one hit with gunfire.

Mujtaba, who was 18 at the time of the incident, was charged with a felony firearms offense, but the charge was downgraded to aggravated assault through plea negotiations. Also charged in connection with the shooting were 16-year-old Curtis Charles Alan Kluesner and 17-year-old Clinton Stan Foster.

Kluesner was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon and Foster was charged with burglary for allegedly taking the weapon involved in the shooting. Both were sentenced to juvenile detention last spring.