Dec 21, 2015 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – A New Freeport man who was shot after he broke into a Springhill Township home to assault a man pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to 2 to 10 years in prison.

Jimmy W. Spencer, 53, of 305 Gilbert Ridge Road, pleaded guilty before Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman to aggravated assault, retaliation against a witness, simple assault, harassment and criminal mischief.

A charge of burglary was withdrawn as part of the plea agreement.

Spencer was shot in the abdomen June 8 by David M. Riley, after he broke into Riley’s home at 498 Morford Road.

Spencer had gone to the house about 1:50 p.m., pounded on the door and demanded to be let in. He then forced his way in and threatened Riley, who had earlier implicated Spencer’s son in a 2014 triple homicide in West Virginia, with a large metal pry bar.

Spencer struck Riley with the bar, causing a cut above Riley’s right eye. He then pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and started to approach Riley. Riley retreated into a back bedroom and, as Spencer continued to approach, but Riley shot him once with the handgun he carried in a holster on his side.

Spencer spent two weeks recovering from the wound at a Morgantown, W.Va., hospital. Investigators considered Riley’s use of force legal under the state’s Castle Doctrine law that allows homeowners to protect themselves from intruders.

Riley had serve as a witness against Spencer’s son, Samuel Spencer, who entered an “Alford plea” to homicide charges earlier this year in Wetzel County, W.Va. Samuel Spencer was prosecuted in connection with the deaths of three people in that county in January 2014, and is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.

As part of the sentence, Toothman added as a special condition that Spencer stay away from Riley through the duration of the sentence. He also fined Spencer $750 and deferred the date Spencer must report to begin serving his prison sentence until Feb. 1.