A Baltimore man who was originally facing an attempted first-degree murder charge accepted a plea deal Monday after his trial was postponed in Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Prosecutors had initially offered Anthony Wayne Schaaf, 37, a 50-year prison sentence before the case took a different turn.
Schaaf’s case was first set for a postponement hearing before Judge Piper F. McKeithen, but it was later moved to the reception court. The case was eventually sent before Judge Althea M. Handy, where Schaaf pleaded guilty to possession of a regulated firearm.
Under the plea agreement, Schaaf was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation. He was also ordered to register as a gun offender.
According to charging documents, just after midnight on Jan. 30, Baltimore Police were called to the 3400 block of E. Fayette Street, where they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower back.
The victim told officers that he had been walking behind a short man wearing a black mask when the man turned around and opened fire.
City surveillance footage showed the victim running on the 3500 block of Esther Place before stopping briefly on Highland Avenue and then walking into a Royal Farms, where he asked an employee to call the police.
Investigators later used city surveillance cameras to identify Schaaf, who was allegedly seen removing his mask at Joe’s Bar on S. Highland Avenue shortly after the shooting.
Court records show Schaaf has a prior burglary conviction, which prohibited him from possessing or using a firearm.
