BANGOR – A Clifton man who reportedly shot his wife in the ankle with a hunting rifle at their home last October will spend eight months in jail.

Steven Gray, 49, pleaded guilty Monday in Penobscot County Superior Court to reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, a Class C felony.

Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead sentenced him to 31/2 years in prison, with all but eight months suspended, followed by two years of probation.

Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Greg Campbell said he recommended a higher sentence for Gray, but called the case difficult.

“This was a situation in which the defendant’s wife came and spoke on his behalf; she didn’t want the case prosecuted, she didn’t want her husband to go to jail,” Campbell said Monday. “So given her reluctance to testify made this a difficult case.”

The couple apparently was arguing around 10 p.m. when Gray’s wife took a rifle that was inside the home on Bruckoff Road and threw it outside, officials said.

Steven Gray went outside to retrieve the gun – which police described as a popular deer-hunting rifle – and allegedly fired a shot back into the home that hit his wife in the lower leg.

“Mr. Gray said the gun went off by itself, but there was clear physical evidence that suggested it was shot by a person,” Campbell said.

The woman called 911 to report that she had been shot. She was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor late after the accident, but her injuries were not considered life threatening, police said.