Court upholds sentence in Boundary Waters shooting

St. Paul, Minn. (AP) -- The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed a three-year prison sentence for an Ely man who participated in a drunken shooting spree that terrorized campers in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

A three-judge appeals panel Tuesday let the trial court's decision stand against Jay Andrew Olson, who pleaded guilty to several charges last June.

The panel says Lake County District Judge Kenneth Sandvik did not abuse his discretion when he handed down the sentence recommended by the state's sentencing guidelines, even though Olson's co-defendants received lighter sentences, and even though the defense presented evidence that Olson was a good candidate for probation.

Olson, now 21, was one of six defendants from the Aug. 7, 2007, incident on Basswood Lake.