Man sentenced for gun incident

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of firing a pistol toward a woman during a domestic dispute has been given a suspended sentence and credit for time served, court records show.

Ronald Wayne Gamboa had no comments before 1st District Judge Barbara Buchanan imposed the sentence on Monday.

Gamboa, 51, was originally charged with aggravated assault for allegedly opening fire in the direction of the woman during a domestic dispute in Hope last June. The woman was not injured, but said she was in fear for her life with when the gunfire erupted.

Three days after the episode, the home where the dispute took place was damaged by a fire that sheriff’s deputies ruled was arson. Gamboa was being held at the Bonner County Jail when the fire broke out and he was not considered a suspect in the blaze.

A friend of the couple, Lawrence Wayne Cross Jr., was charged with arson, but the case was dismissed without prejudice after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to show that Cross was the one who perpetrated the crime.

Gamboa ultimately entered an Alford plea in the domestic dispute to an amended charge of attempted aggravated assault, which meant he did not admit culpability for the crime but agreed that the state had a strong enough of a case to win a conviction.

The Alford plea also enabled plea negotiations to resolve the case. In exchange for the plea, the state agreed not to pursue a charge that Gamboa unlawfully possessed the semiautomatic pistol due to a prior felony conviction and dropped allegations that Gamboa was a habitual offender.

Buchanan imposed a suspended sentence of 1 to 2 1/2 years with credit for 72 days he served in jail while awaiting trial. Gamboa was placed on probation for four years, fined $500 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.