URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — An Urbana man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting a man during a robbery at a Champaign hotel last year.

27-year-old Kejuan McFarland was in court on Monday to learn his fate after he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm earlier this summer. Under the plea deal he reached, McFarland faced up to 25 years in prison for the Class X felony.

Judge Roger Weber ultimately sentenced McFarland to 20 years in prison, giving him credit for 316 days already served in custody. McFarland will serve that sentence at 85%.

The investigation into the June 5, 2024, shooting at the Days Inn on Bloomington Road determined that McFarland and two women joined the victim and an acquaintance at the hotel, where they were hanging out in a room. The victim told police that while he knew the two women, he did not know McFarland

One of the women reported to police that while she was outside the hotel room, she saw McFarland ripping up a hoodie and tying it around his face before entering the room. The victim said that while it was just him and his acquaintance in the room, McFarland came in with a hoodie wrapped around his face, pointed a gun at his head and demanded money.

During the sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Fletcher described just how close the robbery came to becoming a murder. McFarland was still pointing the gun at the victim’s head when he squeezed the trigger. The gun misfired, and McFarland squeezed the trigger again while pointing the gun lower; it fired, and the bullet hit the victim in the chest.

After shooting the victim, McFarland stole a backpack full of cash and fled the scene.

In addition to the witness testimony of one of the women who brought McFarland to the hotel, surveillance footage helped identify him as the shooter. He was later charged with four counts: two of attempted murder and one each of aggravated battery with a firearm and armed robbery.

Under the plea deal McFarland reached with prosecutors, the attempted murder and armed robbery counts were dismissed, along with an unrelated case where McFarland failed to register a new address as a sex offender.

Despite the other case being dismissed, Fletcher used it as part of his argument for why McFarland should receive the maximum sentence allowed under the plea deal. He said McFarland’s refusal of court orders and a criminal history dating back to his youth were grounds for a sentence that would protect the community and deter similar behavior.

McFarland’s attorney, Public Defender Elizabeth Pollock, argued that while McFarland does have a criminal record, this was the first gun crime he was convicted of. She also pointed to the fact that at the time of the crime, he and the others were drinking and smoking.

McFarland himself also spoke during the hearing, apologizing for his actions.

In the end, Judge Webber sentenced McFarland to 20 years in prison, five years short of the maximum sentence he could have imposed.