FORMER UVM STUDENT SENTENCED TO 90 DAYS FOR 2005 SHOOTING

BURLINGTON - A 22-year-old man who opened fire on a Burlington street
a year ago was sentenced today to serve three months in jail, a term
the judge said reflected the man's rehabilitation but prosecutors
criticized as sending a message of tolerance to would-be criminals.

Paul Farrar of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a former University of Vermont
student, could have been sentenced to six to 10 years, but District
Judge Geoffery Crawford ruled in favor of giving the young man a
second chance.

Farrar lived in an apartment at the intersection of North and North
Willard streets in November 2005 when he tried to sell 4 pounds of
marijuana to a group of three men, but the buyers instead set out to
steal the drugs.

A struggle ensued, and Farrar wrestled a gun away from one of his
assailants, chased the men outside and fired two shots. The 11 p.m.
incident startled the families and college students who lived in the
densely populated residential neighborhood.

One of the shots hit a corner grocery store, and the other struck and
wounded Michael Manovill, though prosecution and defense attorneys
disagre about whether Manovill was hit while he fled or after he
turned toward Farrar. Farrar was arrested and initially charged with
attempted second-degree murder.

In November 2006 he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated
assault with a weapon. The deal could have imprisoned him for a
minimum of six years but allowed him to argue for a shorter term,
which his attorney did during a hearing this morning in Vermont
District Court in Burlington.

"Since the November incident he has grabbed control of his life,"
said defense lawyer Paul Jarvis. "There was a brief period of time
when he was adrift. He is no longer adrift."

Farrar, his parents and other supporters looking on from the crowded
courtroom gallery, offered a tearful apology, saying, "I should have
never done what I did. I made a really bad mistake. ... I apologize
to everyone that I've harmed."

The state Corrections Department recommended that Crawford suspend
all but 30 days of the six-to-10-year sentence in recognition of
Farrar's turnaround. Prosecutor Justin Jiron called the suggestion
"completely inadequate" and encouraged the judge to take a more
punitive approach to send a message to other potential criminals.

"Anything less than the six-to-10 years the state recommends would
not show the community these types of crimes will be dealt with
appropriately," Jiron said. He added that the robbers, including
Manovill, face five-year minimum prison sentences on federal charges
that stem from the incident.

But Crawford came down close to the Corrections suggestion, although
he tripled the amount of time Farrar will serve.

"You've made an incredible effort to get off drugs and make changes
in your life," the judge told Farrar.

The full sentence is six to 10 years, all suspended except 90 days.
Farrar also will be placed on indefinite probation after his release
and perform 500 hours of community service.

Crawford ordered Farrar to report to the Chittenden Regional
Correctional Facility in South Burlington by 6 p.m. today. He, his
family and his supporters declined to comment as they left the courthouse.