Matt Gray, a 23-year-old man who pleaded guilty in May to reckless manslaughter, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and an extended probation despite a recommendation from the Montezuma County Probation Department for a prison term.

The sentencing decision was made by Cortez District Judge Sharon Hanson on Thursday.

Hanson told the courtroom spectators that she very rarely sways from a probation-department recommendation but said she was going to do so in this case.

"You need to look at this as your chance to do something productive with your life," Hanson told Gray on Thursday.

In February, Gray surrendered to police following the death of Kenneth Wayne Dugan III, who died from a gunshot wound to the chest at the home of his ex-wife, Lindy Kennedy Dugan.

The affidavit said that Kenneth Dugan had gone to the home of his ex-wife along with three acquaintances to help evict Douglas Jay Hackett.

According to the police, Gray and his girlfriend, Shana Dawn Fletcher, were also living in a trailer on Lindy Dugan’s property.

During the attempted eviction, several verbal and physical confrontations broke out, according to the affidavit. During one of these confrontations Gray, who was apparently being attacked, pulled out his gun and fired — unintentionally shooting Dugan in the chest and killing him.

Gray then fled from Colorado and remained at large for several days before returning to Cortez and surrendering to police.

Upon surrendering, Gray was charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was later amended to reckless manslaughter.

District Attorney Mike Green explained that a reckless-manslaughter charge means that the suspect fired the gun without the intent of hitting anybody, but hit someone anyway. "The person was not in control of their actions," Green said.

Green said that the presumptive range for reckless manslaughter, a Class 4 felony, is two to six years in a correctional facility but could be as many 12 years or as little as one year.

In Cortez District Court Thursday, public defender Tom Williamson argued that a prison term would not be the appropriate sentence for Gray.

"I disagree with probation’s recommendation for (prison) sentencing," Williamson told the court. "Matt has a history of drug, alcohol and driving problems — he has no history of violence."

Williamson added that Gray did everything he could in order to avoid conflict on the night of the shooting and then turned himself in after learning that the gunshot resulted in Dugan’s death.

"(Matt) never did anything to hurt anybody. . . . He’s a passive guy and he won’t do well in jail. He would be the center of attention in prison . . . he would be attacked," Williamson said.

However Green, who prosecuted the case, said Friday that he felt that the court should have gone with probation department’s recommendation.

"You are telling the drug and alcohol community that it is OK to get drunk or high and get involved in a situation where somebody dies," Green said of the court’s decision on Thursday not to send Gray to prison.

Green said that the probation department looks at a person’s past compliance record when deciding whether to send that person to prison or probation. And Gray’s compliance record for getting treatment, appearing in court and everything else is terrible, Green said.

Green said that in addition to the charge of reckless manslaughter, Gray also faces jail time for a DUI in Cortez and has a DUI case pending in Durango.

In declaring Gray’s sentence Thursday, Hanson said that she agreed with a lot of what the probation department had said in its report.

The judge told Gray that he had set himself up for this incident and added that a long history of drug and alcohol abuse without any attempt at rehabilitation as well as a prior history for not appearing in court did not gain him any favor.

Hanson said, on the other hand, that Gray has shown genuine remorse for his actions, has no prior history of violence and did eventually turn himself in to the police.

The judge added that the court had also received letters from the victim’s mother and ex-wife, who both spoke favorably on Gray’s behalf.

Following Gray’s 90-day jail term, which does not include time already served, he will be entered into an intensive, supervised five-year probation program. Green said these are both long-term programs which are intended to help with drug and alcohol detox as well as teach the person how to function without controlled substances.