NEWPORT — Two brothers charged with firing a gun around Claremont on Dec. 30 — striking two houses on Chestnut Street in one instance — were sentenced in Sullivan County Superior Court this week after pleading guilty to the felonies.
Matthew Barry, 24, of Newport, will serve 12 months in the House of Corrections for conspiracy to commit criminal mischief by discharging a firearm at occupied structures, Sullivan County Attorney Marc Hathaway said Tuesday. Hathaway said he encouraged his brother to fire the gun.
He also received a suspended 3½- to seven-year sentence at the New Hampshire State Prison for reckless conduct with a deadly weapon for firing a 9 mm handgun near the Sugar River in downtown Claremont and on Main Street. No one was injured. Shots that hit two homes on Chestnut Street were random, police said.
The state prison sentence, suspended for five years, would run after he serves the 12 months in jail, Hathaway said.
Tyler Barry, 26, of Claremont, was sentenced to 24 months at the House of Corrections for the same charges. Hathaway said because Tyler Barry was out on bail for a burglary in Unity in 2018, he will serve the additional 12 months for the reckless conduct charge.
Tyler Barry also was given two other 12-months sentences, to be served concurrently, for the August 2018 burglary in Unity and a shoplifting charge of a pellet gun on the same day as the shooting incidents in Claremont.
In addition, he was given a suspended 3½- to seven-year sentence in the New Hampshire State Prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Both men were ordered to have no contact with the occupants of the homes that were fired at and pay restitution of $425 each.
A third individual in the case, Brandon Teeter, 18, of Newport, who drove his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck during the incidents, is charged with driving under the influence and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault. His case has not been resolved.
Hathaway said cooperation among Newport, Claremont and New Hampshire State Police “made these convictions possible.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
