Suspect in U.D. road rage gunfight pleads guilty
A Norristown man who shot another driver in an August road rage incident was sentenced to time served to 23 months in jail Thursday after entering open guilty pleas to aggravated assault and related offenses.
Jordan T. Gilliam, 26, of the 600 block of Corson Street, also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a firearm without a license and accidents involving damage to property for the Aug. 13 crash and shooting in the area of the Church Lane bridge between Baltimore Avenue in Upper Darby and Penn Street in Yeadon.
Additional charges including simple and aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and failure to stop and render aid were dismissed under the plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Lewis Reagan and defense counsel Michael Fienman.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt previously said Gilliam and the other driver got into a minor accident that devolved into a road rage when both operators began firing on each other.
The other driver was struck in the abdomen and called 911. He gave police the license plate number of his assailant and later identified Gilliam from surveillance video.
Reagan said there were significant mitigating factors here and the victim just wanted to put the incident behind him. He did not recommend a sentence except for a stay-away order from the victim and that Gilliam pay restitution of $17,000.
Fienman said Gilliam is an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps with no prior arrests, who spent two months in a South Carolina halfway house following the shooting incident because he realized he needed treatment.
He said Gilliam wanted to take responsibility as soon as possible because he acknowledges he is guilty and wants to be held accountable. Gilliam also apologized to the victim.
Judge George Pagano gave Gilliam credit for time served from Oct. 25 to March 7, and ordered him to serve seven years of county probation. He was also ordered to pay the $17,000 in restitution, which Gilliam had already agreed to, according to his attorney.
Fienman asked that Gilliam be able to transfer probation to Thailand, where he plans to live with his fiancée. Pagano did not acquiesce to that request, but did allow Gilliam to petition for termination of supervision after four years if he has no violations.
Gilliam was also ordered to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and provide a DNA sample to state police.