HARTFORD CITY, Ind. – A Hartford City felon who twice fired a handgun during a domestic dispute in his house has been sentenced to 180 days on electronic home detention.

Allen Ray Harrison Jr., now 38, had pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison.

Harrison was arrested shortly before midnight on Nov. 27 after neighbors reported hearing gunshots in his home, in the 1700 block of South Spring Street.

Blackford Circuit Court Judge Brian Bade in recent days accepted the terms of a plea agreement that called for five other charges pending against the Hartford City man – neglect of a dependent, carrying a handgun without a license, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of paraphernalia and possession of marijuana – to be dismissed.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

►Gunshots lead to neglect charges against couple

The judge imposed a two-year sentence, suspended except for the 180 days on home detention.

Harrison has earlier been convicted of burglary, possession of marijuana, resisting law enforcement and trespass.

His spouse, 36-year-old Larra S. Spahr, at one point tried to persuade officers Harrison had been shooting at a at a possum who had been menacing the family’s chickens. In February she pleaded guilty to a related count of maintaining a common nuisance in Blackford Superior Court, and was sentenced to a week already spent in the Blackford County jail.

In other court news:

Meth arrest: A Hartford City man under the supervision of Blackford County Community Corrections officials as he awaits the resolution of a drug-related case faces new charges.

Eric Michael Lillard, 44, of the 4000 block of Willman Road, had meth and marijuana in his home on April 21, authorities allege.

Lillard last week was charged with possession of meth, possession of paraphernalia and possession of marijuana in Blackford Circuit Court, where he received a July 16 trial date.

He was charged with the same three crimes, and maintaining a common nuisance, in Blackford Superior Court in late December.

Lillard’s criminal record includes convictions for dealing in meth and possession of a controlled substance.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.