A Sharon man has pleaded guilty to making terroristic threats, a misdemeanor, in connection with the October 2001 shooting death of Edward Boles of Sharon.

Jody Gabriele, 41, of 352 Elm Ave., entered the plea Wednesday before Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Thomas R. Dobson. He faces a sentence of 18 months to 3 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Tim Bonner said the plea was accepted because he would have had difficulty prosecuting the case against Gabriele because the only witness, Michael Dushawn Harris, is in Chicago facing a murder charge.

Gabriele had been charged with burglary, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, criminal trespassing and possessing an instrument of a crime.

Sharon police gave the following account of the shooting:

On Oct. 21, 2001, Gabriele and Boles, then 39, knocked on the back door of 145 N. Water Ave. Harris, 24, of Chicago, began to open the door when Boles and Gabriele forced their way in.

Harris, Boles and Gabriele began fighting; Harris was hit in the head and body with a baseball bat and Boles and Gabriele threatened to shoot him.

During the fight, Harris got a .32-caliber, semi-automatic handgun from the residence and fired several times at Boles and Gabriele as they ran from the home.

Shortly after the fight, Boles was found near Bridge Place and North Irvine Avenue with a gunshot wound. He died later at the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System.

Harris was treated at Sharon Regional for injuries he suffered in the fight.

"The only witness who observed the assault was Michael Harris," Bonner said, "who is currently in Chicago facing charges of murder. There were no other witnesses."

Forensic evidence from the scene conflicted with Harris' account of the fight, Bonner said. "It would have been difficult to prove."

Gabriele, who is serving a 3è- to 12-year prison sentence on another conviction, is scheduled for sentencing in February.

According to terms of the plea agreement, Gabriele's sentence would begin after he completes his current sentence, Bonner said.

Gabriele's attorney, Stephen Delpero of New Wilmington, said he would have liked to defend Gabriele at a trial.

"Mr. Gabriele was in between a rock and a hard place," he said. "If he hadn't had the prior record he had, things might have gone differently for him."

Delpero said the biggest problem with the case, from the prosecution's standpoint, was the fact that none of Harris' claims were supported by the evidence found at the scene.

"He said he shot at the men from one place," he said, "and yet the police found shell casings in a completely different room. Many of his claims were disproved by the commonwealth's own case."

Gabriele, he said, had been "vindicated in a way."

"He was charged with 26 felonies, and pled to a misdemeanor," Delpero said. "I'm pleased with the outcome, but I had hoped for something a little better."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com