BB gun vandal sentenced
POST FALLS — A man who used a BB gun to wreak havoc on a Post Falls neighborhood at the end of May has been sentenced to at least one year in jail.
District Court Judge Lansing Haynes sentenced Cody G. DeVaughn to four years in prison, with one year fixed, for felony malicious injury to property.
DeVaughn pleaded guilty to shooting out the windows of at least 20 cars and three homes, mostly in the Meadows and Prairie Meadows subdivisions and the area of Fisher and Guy roads.
The shooting spree caused an estimated $18,000 in damages, which DeVaughn and his accomplice, Dylan Siegel, 19, will have to eventually pay in restitution.
Police caught DeVaughn after the man who gave him the high-powered Black Colt BB gun turned him in. DeVaughn allegedly threatened that man and was initially charged with witness intimidation, but that charge was eventually dropped prior to sentencing.
“Ever since this situation took place, a lot of changes have happened,” DeVaughn told the judge at his sentencing, according to court documents. “Now (at age) 18, I see an adult life. I didn’t know what responsibility was. Since that day I have reflected. It was really wrong and I really feel bad about the mistakes I have made.
“I am not making any excuses; I did it. I want to say sorry for my actions.”
In the court records, the prosecutor told the judge he felt DeVaughn was at a moderate risk to reoffend, and that alcohol was a significant factor in the crime. DeVaughn was also on juvenile probation at the time, where he had racked up seven violations.
“You have been involved in criminal activity for one-third to half of your life,” the judge told Vaughn at the sentencing. “Many, many, many serious criminal mistakes. Now you have been through programs and probation and still continue this conduct.
“Our society is not adequately protected. I am concerned about this longstanding sequence of activity,” Haynes continued. “You need to throw your heart and soul into the program. Don’t sit on your hands. You need conduct to back up your words.”
The judge then sentenced DeVaughn and retained jurisdiction on the case.