ALBANY -- Tasheem Maeweather, the Albany man accused of firing a gun inside a bustling Crossgates Mall last fall, was acquitted of attempted murder.



The Albany County jury on Friday also found Maeweather, 20, innocent of criminal possession of a weapon, attempted assault, but convicted him of reckless endangerment.



Maeweather faces a penalty of 2 1/3 to 7 years at sentencing on June 23, said his attorney Lee Kindlon.

He could have faced a maximum to 25 years behind bars on the top attempted murder offense, if convicted.



"The people put on an eyewitness who claimed they were 10 feet away from my client firing a gun, and we asked the jury not to give into fear, and clearly they didn't," said Kindlon, adding that prosecution witness, an off-duty state trooper "was wrong."



Despite being cleared of 3 of the 4 charges, Kindlon said his client is still "devastated because he has said from Day One that he's not guilty."

Kindlon said an appeal is planned.

"I'm confident on appeal this will get overturned but for now, the three biggest and most detrimental charges are knocked out," added Kindlon.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares issued a statement Friday that in part said the defendant "violated our sense of safety and has left a traumatic and indelible memory for those who were present that day" and that the incident is also a reminder of the prevalence of guns and the danger they pose in the hands of criminals.

Maeweather is already serving nine years in prison, a sentence imposed in December for violating his parole for an earlier drug conviction in Schenectady County.

At trial, Albany County Assistant District Attorney Steven Sharp argued that Maeweather opened fire on a group of rival gang members after one of them punched him in the face near the Apple store, not far from the popular Santa Land.

In fact, the man who was playing Santa that afternoon took the stand for the prosecution.

Most of the prosecution witnesses who testified during the week-long trial told jurors they heard what sounded like two shots, but few said they saw who fired the shot.

No one was injured in the gunfire which sent people scrambling for the exits or forced them to hunker down inside businesses, some for hours.

Kindlon denied the prosecutor's contention his client is a gang member and countered that prosecutors got the wrong man and did not consider other potential suspects.