Peru man admits firing stray bullet into home

PORTLAND – A stray bullet that shattered a living-room window and injured a woman inside the home will cost Jeffrey Stearns at least 15 years in federal prison.

Stearns, 45, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to possession of a firearm as a felon.

The Peru man was shooting at a deer in Denise Dyke’s back yard last October when a bullet ricocheted and broke her window. The 21-year-old woman, who was standing in her living room, suffered chest wounds from the broken glass.

State investigators later discovered 11 guns in the trunk of Stearns’ car.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Stearns admitted firing two rounds. The first bullet hit the deer. The second missed, splitting up, and the copper jacket broke Dyke’s living-room window.

Stearns then followed the deer into the woods and killed it with a 9 mm pistol, assistant U.S. Attorney Toby Dilworth said.

Dyke said last November that doctors could not remove all the glass from her scarred chest. They told her the pieces will work their way to the surface one by one.

She said Wednesday that she was aware of Stearns’ guilty plea, but that her attorney advised her not to comment.

Stearns was prosecuted as an armed career criminal because of convictions for robbery in 1975, three burglaries in 1980 and possession of a firearm by a felon last May.

Described by his lawyer as a disabled construction worker, Stearns also has six assault convictions.

As a habitual offender on probation, he faces a stiffer sentence than he might have otherwise. Federal guidelines mandate a prison sentence of 15 years to life and a maximum fine of $250,000.

At a bail hearing in November, Stearns’ lawyer, Woody Hanstein, said his client’s 15-year-old son actually fired the shot. The prosecution presented several witnesses who contradicted that claim.

Sentencing will take place in about two months.