Crime

El Salvador man pleads guilty to firing shots into Bellefonte home, set to be deported

An El Salvador man who fired several shots into a Bellefonte home last month was sentenced Thursday to no additional jail time before he is deported.

Elias Quintanilla, 39, was sentenced by Centre County Judge Brian Marshall to a maximum of 36 days in jail — the amount of time he was incarcerated since his March arrest.

He pleaded guilty Thursday to one felony count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure. Three charges were dropped.

Quintanilla told a detective he fired six shots into a home along East Lamb Street, borough police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. Three went into a deck, two went into the front wall of the home and one round was unaccounted for.

He offered a brief statement through an interpreter before his sentence was handed down.

“Just to be forgiven for what I did,” Quintanilla said.

He’s set to remain incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility until he’s detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Bret Pallotto
Centre Daily Times
Bret Pallotto primarily reports on courts and crime for the Centre Daily Times. He was raised in Mifflin County and graduated from Lock Haven University.
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