Scott Sargent arrives in court in handcuffs for his sentencing on Thursday 

Scott Sargent failed when he tried to argue during his October trial that he did not see any officers outside Walmart and only fired to protect his girlfriend because he believed two people were following them.
Sargent, 33,of Shenandoah, PA was convicted of shooting at police officers outside a Pennsylvania Walmart  on Oct 17, 2015. On Thursday Sargent arrived in court for his sentencing sporting a disturbing jailhouse tattoo on his forearm featuring tombstones bearing the names of his would-be victims.
Two months ago Sargent was found guilty of nearly two dozen charges stemming from the shootout in Wilkes-Barre, including attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault and reckless endangering.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas on Thursday, ordered Sargent to serve the sentences on most of the charges consecutively, meaning the Shenandoah man faces a minimum of 179 years in prison to a maximum of 358 years.

Scott Sargent is pictured above during an earlier court hearing, before he had his arm tattooed

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing  prosecutor Jarrett Ferentino drew the court’s attention to the defendant’s macabre sense of humour, which was tattooed on his left arm sometime after his conviction, just weeks back.
‘We learned that he received a tattoo with five tombstones with the names of his victims that survived his attack, with a skeleton skull over the tombstones,’ Ferentino said, noting that in his 15 years as a prosecutor, he has never seen anything like that.
‘I thought the tattoo was deplorable. I think it’s disrespectful but it speaks volumes of who he is and what his intentions were that day.’
Adding that the tattoo will serve a daily reminder of his failure: “He failed to put them [the officers] in their graves… I want him to be reminded every single day those individuals are why he’s spending every day in jail,” the prosecutor said.
Officer Brian Bouton, who barely escaped death when one of the bullets fired by Sargent struck the headrest in his vehicle, echoed the prosecutor’s sentiments calling the defendant’s tattoo ‘a disgrace’.
No one was killed during the incident, but one of the bullets fired by Sargent narrowly missed a police officer
‘The rest of his life he has to look at our names on his arm and remind him that he’s incarcerated and doesn’t have the freedom and that he failed his mission,’ Bouton said.
Alan Gribble, the officer who shot Sargent in the abdomen during the incident, called his tattoo ‘pathetic’ and said that when he first heard of it, he thought it was a joke.
When asked if he wished to address the victims and their relatives in court, Sargent shook his head and showed no remorse for his actions.
His defense attorney asked the judge to take Sargent’s history of addiction and mental health issues into account when deciding on a sentence.
Joseph Yeager said that his client was an orphan, and that the passing of his mother a short time before the Walmart shooting was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back,’ according to a Wilkes-Barre Times Leader report.
Sargent was given credit for 790 days served in jail since his arrest. He will spend the rest of his days behind bars.
At his trial this fall, Sargent testified that he didn’t see any officers on October 17, 2015, and was firing warning shots, believing he was being followed.
Defense attorney Melissa Sulima argued in her closing argument that there was no evidence that her client was trying to kill officers.
She suggested that her client was trying to protect his girlfriend and, while acknowledging that his actions were reckless and irrational, said he wasn’t actually trying to harm anyone.
Sulima also pointed out that he didn’t shoot anyone, even officer Gribble, with whom he came face-to-face with before that officer shot him with a shotgun.

‘He didn’t shoot Officer Gribble because Officer Gribble was quicker on the draw. That’s it,’ Ferentino said. ‘You don’t get points for missing, and you don’t get points for being slow on the draw.
Judge Lupas sentenced Sargent  10 to 20 years for each of five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, each to be served consecutively, or one after the other.
20 to 40 years for each of six counts of assault on a law enforcement officer, each to be served consecutively.
He will serve 7 to 14 years on an aggravated assault charge, to be served consecutively to the other terms.
One to two years for each of several reckless endangerment charges.
He received 90 days for a harassment count.
The judge also gave Sargent credit for 790 days time served and ordered him to pay thousands of dollars in restitution to the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, State Police, Wilkes-Barre Township for vehicle repair and to Wilkes-Barre Township Officer Jude Allen.