Man gets 5-year sentence for illegal firearm possession, robbery and assault charges dismissed

A man accused of shooting a man at a St. Paul bus shelter and stealing his bike has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Santonio Marquese Ferguson, 35, was sentenced to 60 months (5 years) in prison Wednesday for an illegal firearms charge. He will receive credit for 187 days.

Ferguson had initially been facing two additional charges of first-degree assault and 1st-degree robbery, but both charges were dismissed at his sentencing after a guilty plea.

Ferguson was arrested for a July 27, 2024, shooting in St. Paul where a man had been shot in his abdomen near a bus shelter. The man survived his injuries but required surgery on his bowels and rectum and suffered a fracture to a bone near the base of his spine.

The man’s girlfriend, who witnessed the event, said another man approached the bus shelter and tried to steal the man’s electric bike, shot him, and then rode off on the bicycle.

Police were able to identify Ferguson as the shooter after watching a surveillance video of the area, which captured the shooter’s unique tattoos on his face, throat, chest, and forearm that matched Fergusen’s.

He also matched the description of the shooter given by witnesses.