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SALT LAKE CITY — A Midvale man will serve at least one year in jail, followed by probation, for shooting a man who was running away.
Jacob David Cuka, 21, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony. On Monday, 3rd District Judge Paul Parker sentenced him to between zero and five years for each count but suspended that sentence so long as Cuka serves one year in jail and three years of probation. He did not award Cuka credit for the time he has already served in jail.
The shooting happened on Jan. 8, 2023, near 1000 W. Fremont Avenue in Salt Lake City. Police arrived and found a man who was shot three times, two of the bullets needed to be removed by doctors, charging documents said.
The man reported leaving a residence and getting into a vehicle with a group of people, not knowing where they were going. According to charging documents, at one point the car stopped and the man was pulled out of it by others in the group. Then someone held an unloaded gun to his head and pulled the trigger twice, the man said.
After that, he said he saw Cuka, who was also holding another gun, right before Cuka shot him in the shoulder. The man turned and ran, and Cuka fired again two times while the man was running away, charging documents said.
As a result of Cuka's plea, the two charges of discharge of a firearm were downgraded from first- to third-degree felonies, and four charges were dismissed including felony discharge of a firearm with serious injury, a first-degree felony; two charges for distributing a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; and possession of a firearm as a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
