Second man pleads guilty in shooting
A second man has pleaded guilty in connection with the Feb. 20 shooting of a Spokane crack cocaine dealer.
Samson Ogbit “Spook” Tesfamariam, 29, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree burglary, second-degree assault with a firearm, attempted first-degree robbery and drive-by shooting.
As called for in Tesfamariam’s plea agreement, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins sentenced him to a maximum-standard 61/2 years in prison.
Deputy Prosecutor Eugene Cruz noted that the deal allows Tesfamariam to withdraw his plea if federal charges are filed against him, but Cruz said federal prosecutors had verbally agreed not to charge Tesfamariam.
The drive-by shooting charge referred to the near-fatal shooting of William Weller Bedford in the course of a drug robbery at Bedford’s apartment at 6901 N. Wiscomb St. However, the shot wasn’t fired from a car, but by men who were trying to force their way through Bedford’s front door.
Bedford didn’t see the attackers, but Shawn Jeffery Nason, 23, bragged that he was the shooter. He pleaded guilty last month to attempted first-degree assault and first-degree robbery.
Nason’s sentencing is on hold until a dispute about how to classify his criminal history for sentencing purposes is resolved.
Bedford was shot in the abdomen with a 20-gauge shotgun when he opened his apartment door to a woman who knocked about 3 a.m.
Bedford told authorities he grabbed the gun’s barrel and kept pushing on the door, and was shot when someone pulled the gun away. Bedford’s injury was considered life-threatening, but he recovered.
Police said Bedford told them he had just received a large quantity of crack cocaine, and he believed his attackers were trying to steal his supply.
Tesfamariam had been charged with attempted first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Amber J. Bridge, 20, also was charged in the shooting. She is scheduled for trial on Aug. 8.
Bridge allegedly is the woman who persuaded Bedford to open his door.