Ryan M. Wedepohl, 26, formerly of Hillsboro, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison following felony charges for unlawful use of a weapon and property damage, as well as probation violations, court records indicate.
In May 2009, Wedepohl, who last lived in Branson, fired a gunshot into a home on Country Lane in Festus, causing $2,500 in damage, the probable-cause statement said.
He pleaded guilty to the charge in February 2011 and was sentenced to 15 years for unlawful use of a weapon and four years for property damage, but the sentences were suspended and he got five years’ probation.
Then, Wedepohl violated his probation, and in February 2012, the two sentences were executed. However, he was released early, in June 2012, again on five years’ probation.
He violated his probation again and on Sept. 25, Jefferson County Div. 3 Circuit Judge Nathan Stewart ordered that the 15-year and four-year terms again be executed. The two terms are to be served concurrently.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Douglas S. Pribble handled the case.
Wedepohl’s 15-year and four-year terms also are to be served concurrently with a seven-year and a five-year term he was sentenced to in September 2013 for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia tied to two incidents – one in July 2011 and one in December 2011, both in Jefferson County.
Wedepohl currently is at the Ozark Correctional Center in Fordland.