An assistant county district attorney on Thursday appealed a sentence, which he called illegal, that allows a Valencia man to be paroled after he was convicted of charges filed for allegedly pointing a shotgun at a man who tried to repossess his pickup truck in 2017.

Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Simon said the sentence county Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy F. McCune ordered for Brian Allan Shaffer, 56, was illegal, and he would file an appeal by the end of the day.

McCune presided over a jury trial in August in which Shaffer was found guilty of misdemeanor counts of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

A misdemeanor count of terroristic threats was “nolle prossed,” or not prosecuted, after the jury couldn't agree on a verdict, said public defender Joseph Smith, who represents Shaffer.

Felony charges of robbery and receiving stolen property and a misdemeanor count of theft by unlawful taking were withdrawn before the trial. Middlesex Township police filed the charges.

The simple assault and recklessly endangering another person charges were merged for sentencing, and sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of six to 23 months in prison, Simon said.

However, Smith asked McCune to not include prison time in the sentence. He argued Shaffer has no previous criminal record, will not be a repeat offender and testified in the trial. Smith acknowledged that a shotgun was present, but the incident took place in 2017 and no request for restitution has been made.

Simon said the victim wrote off the restitution during the four years it took for the case to come to court.

McCune sentenced Shaffer to serve 6 to 23 months in prison, but said he can be immediately paroled, and pay a $100 fine.

Simon objected, called the sentence illegal and said he is forced to file an appeal.

On May 25, 2017, Kevin McMaster, who works for A&L Repossession of Pittsburgh, told police that he went that morning to Shaffer's home on Steiner Bridge Road with an online bank's repossession order for Shaffer's 2005 Chevrolet pick-up truck.

After he loaded the pick-up and strapped it onto his tow truck, Shaffer came out of his house with a shotgun and pointed it at him, police said.

Shaffer then removed his truck from the tow truck and drove it into the woods near his home, police said.

He turned himself in to authorities the following week after an arrest warrant had been issued.

The district attorney's office filed a post-sentence motion Thursday afternoon to vacate the sentence.