Man sent back to prison for gun conviction, parole violation

Gary Rial with his attorney, Doug Stevenson.

By Allison Scarbrough. Contributing Editor.

LUDINGTON — A 63-year-old Victory Township man was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 20, in 51st Circuit Court to a 16-month to 10-year prison sentence for a conviction of felony firearm possession and fourth-offense habitual offender.

Gary Edwin Rial, of 7065 N. Dennis Rd., has a long rap sheet, dating back to the early 1970s, which includes convictions of vulnerable adult abuse; attempted larceny; receiving and concealing stolen property; and attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct, Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said previously.

His conviction stems from a March 11 incident in Victory Township when Rial, a convicted felon, was in possession of a shotgun and a pistol, said Spaniola.

The maximum penalty for the conviction is five years, said Judge Susan Sniegowski previously, but Rial’s habitual offender status elevated the maximum sentence to life in prison.

Rial’s sentencing runs concurrent to two 2011 convictions of second-degree vulnerable adult abuse, which he was on probation for at the time of his present criminl case.

Judge Susan K. Sniegowski revoked Rial’s probation and re-sentenced him to concurrent terms of two to eight years in prison with credit for 557 days served in jail. He received 241 days jail credit for the firearms conviction.