On Monday, a Middleton man was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison on a charge stemming from a 2021 shooting outside of a Fitchburg bar, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The man, Johnluke Spears, 32, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release for possessing a firearm as a felon — a charge he pled guilty to on April 12.
The 2021 incident took place in the parking lot of Fitchburg’s Monkeyshines Bar. Surveillance video showed two people, one of whom was shot, in a confrontation with another group. It then showed the injured person exchanging gunfire with at least one person in that group.
According to investigators, Spears had been standing next to one of the shooters. A December 2021 search warrant for Spears’ residence led detectives to the discovery of a loaded Glock handgun consistent with the casings found at the shooting scene. It had Spears’ DNA on it. It was later noted that the Glock had a switch that converted it into a machine gun and drum magazine capable of holding 40–50 rounds.
The charge against Spears resulted from an investigation conducted by Fitchburg police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
