A Silver Spring man has been sentenced to five years in prison for shooting another man during a botched drug deal.
Court records show that 23-year-old Christopher Gayle was sentenced in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court after entering an Alford plea to charges of attempted second-degree murder and using a firearm during a violent crime. In such a plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.
Authorities say Gayle shot Ricky Johnson in the torso outside the Marley Station mall on March 29.
Police found cocaine in Johnson’s car, and Johnson told investigators at the hospital that shooting stemmed from a drug deal, according to the Annapolis Capital.
