Man facing gun charges says son responsible

PORTLAND – A Peru man facing 15 years to life in prison for an incident that shattered a window and injured a neighbor says his teen son was actually responsible.

At a bail hearing Monday, Jeffrey Stearns, 45, pleaded innocent to federal charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

He also faces a maximum fine of $250,000.

Woody Hanstein, Stearns’ lawyer, told U.S. District Judge David Cohen that his client was “covering for his son,” 15-year-old Jay Stearns.

Hanstein said the bullet that shattered a neighbor’s window and showered Denise Dyke with glass on Oct. 8 must have been fired by an inexperienced hunter.

“Whatever happened there, it was an accident,” Hanstein said.

Jay Stearns and his stepmother, Debra Stearns, attended the hearing, but neither testified.

But the teen’s mother, Jeanne Larochelle of Oakland, said her son “definitely” did not fire the shot.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Toby Dilworth asked Cohen to deny bail and presented statements in which Jay Stearns told investigators he was asleep during the incident.

In a statement entered into evidence Monday, Denise Dyke’s husband, Matt Dyke, said Stearns called him shortly after the incident and “asked if he woke me up shooting at the deer.” Hanstein argued that Matt Dyke was understandably upset and had misunderstood what Stearns said.

Albert St. Saviour, a warden investigator, testified that Jay Stearns said his father told him and his stepmother that they had to take his guns out of the house. The adults put the guns in the trunk of the car and Jeffrey Stearns told his son to drive it to a vacant lot, St. Saviour said.

Two wardens tracked the car to the lot and found 11 guns and several boxes of ammunition in the trunk, Warden Shon Theriault testified.

Stearns has more than 20 convictions in the past 25 years, including six assaults, three burglaries, one robbery and one instance of criminal threatening, Dilworth said.

The trial is set for Jan. 7.