CLEARFIELD – A Bethlehem man accused of shooting a gun near a work zone in June pleaded guilty Tuesday during sentencing court.
Jernane Lamont Coleman, 43, was sentenced by Judge Paul E. Cherry to four to eight years in state prison for possession of firearm prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called to intercept a westbound truck/trailer whose driver, later identified as Coleman, had caused a problem at a clean-up site on Interstate 80 near Kylertown.
Witnesses said the traffic was limited to one lane when Coleman stopped his vehicle, causing a hazard.
One of the work crew members approached him and they argued. After the driver started moving and traveled about 50 yards, Coleman discharged two rounds into the air.
When the driver was stopped by a trooper about 11 miles away from the scene of the incident, Coleman claimed he had thrown two firecrackers out the window.
While speaking with police, the trooper was able to see two brass shell casings lying on the floorboard of the truck.
The trooper asked him about the casings leading to Coleman saying he wasn’t going to lie, and admitting he had fired two rounds “into the sky” because he feared the work crew was going to engage him in a physical fight.
Coleman said the pistol was located under his bunk bed in the trunk. It was seized.
Police checking his criminal history discovered that Coleman was a convicted felon from a drug case in Kentucky in 2003 and he also had a felony receiving stolen property case in 1993 in Pennsylvania, both which forbid him from possessing a gun.