The former Dover resident who twice in the past year randomly fired a gun from inside a vehicle was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison followed by two years of probation.
Fernando Helena, 40, whose last known address was in Dover, in July pleaded guilty to felony charges in four separate criminal cases. Two of them were for improper handling of firearms in motor vehicles for shootings that took place in Uhrichsville in October 2023 and New Philadelphia in January of this year. Nobody was hurt in those incidents.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court Judge Elizabeth Thomakos said Helena admitted the shootings were “spur of the moment” decisions that he later regretted. However, she said she found no genuine remorse from Helena.
The first shooting took place Oct. 8, 2023, in Uhrichsville on West Third Avenue. Thomakos said that was on a Sunday and across from a church.
The second shoot took place on Jan. 12, 2024, in the area of West High Avenue and Sixth Street in New Philadelphia. Thomakos said that happened just before 4 p.m. on a Friday.
“I think that the risk … the public was placed in in both those timeframes and locations makes the matter more serious,” Thomakos said.
Helena in court said he was “very sorry for everything.”
Thomakos sentenced Helena to three consecutive 12-month prison terms, one each for the firearms cases and one for a criminal trespassing case from October.
She also sentenced him to two years of probation once he is released from prison on a receiving stolen property case from March of this year.
Helena gets credit for 459 days already served and can earn early release if he completes education and employment programs in prison. While the sentences add up to three years, Helena will likely be in prison for less than two.
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