AUGUSTA – A Randolph man has pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, the result of an altercation that ended in a man getting shot in the leg outside the Bridge Street Tavern 22 months ago.

Jacob L. Pouliot, 23, was sentenced Friday to five years in jail, with all but nine months suspended, and two years of probation.

In exchange for the guilty plea, a charge of elevated aggravated assault was dismissed.

“I think it’s important that he pled to a felony because he’s no longer allowed to have a firearm,” said District Attorney Maeghan Maloney, noting that the incident apparently followed a fight at the bar.

Pouliot’s attorney, Walter McKee, also referred to the bar fight, saying there was some suggestion the gunshot was retaliation.

McKee described his client’s sentence as “a fair result, given the major identification issue in the case with who the shooter was.” He said two people were in a vehicle dressed in a similar fashion. McKee said the gunshot “inadvertently struck the victim.”

Augusta police said at the time that the altercation started inside the bar, and people spilled out into the streets where others had gathered. Multiple gunshots were fired. The victim, a 50-year-old Augusta man, was struck in the thigh. He was treated at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and released the same day.

Pouliot was not charged with the offense until December 2011.

Under the conditions of probation, Pouliot is banned from contact with the victim.

Betty Adams can be contacted at 621-5631 or at:

badams@centralmaine.com