An Aiken man may spend 80 years in prison for a 2021 shooting spree in downtown Augusta.
Juan Antonio Serrano, 34, was under indictment for aggravated assault, accused of shooting a handgun at three men during an argument and striking one of them in the head.
A Richmond County jury found Serrano guilty last week of the three aggravated assaults, possessing a firearm to commit a felony and criminal damage to property, for shooting out a car window.
He was sentenced Thursday by Richmond County Superior Court Judge Amanda Heath.
Heath said a “medical miracle” took place after the shooting. According to trial testimony, the victim thought he was dying, and began asking to speak to his wife, she said. Alcohol and firearms helped transform what began as a celebratory night into a drunk-driving near-fatal incident.
The case read like a murder, only the victim wasn’t dead, she said.
“Only by grace did it not turn out to be a murder,” she said.
The Sept. 2, 2021, incident took place near the corner of Fourth and Greene streets, according to prior reports.
Serrano was tried separately from co-defendant Jasmine Judge, who remains on bond under house arrest.
He was represented by Ian Puczkowski with the Augusta Circuit Public Defender’s Office. The court agreed to bifurcate and hear separately Serrano’s charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, so the jury did not know he was a convicted felon.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Kevin Davis sought a rescidivist sentence – the maximum time – for Serrano who had numerous prior offenses, most in Aiken County.
Often inmates convicted of four or more felonies are ineligible for parole.
Heath gave Serrano 20 years each on the three aggravated assaults, to serve consecutively, plus five years each consecutive on the gun possession and property damage, for a combined 80 years.
Serrano pleaded guilty Thursday to gun possession by a felon and received 10 additional years on probation.
