The young Navy man accused of pointing a loaded gun at an Oak Harbor councilwoman agreed to a plea bargain last week that came with no jail time.

The Navy, however, is moving forward with an administration separation that could lead to the man’s discharge from the service, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Councilwoman Tara Hizon said she is recovering from the harrowing experience and found the process of bringing the man to justice both educational and frustrating from a victim’s perspective.

She wasn’t able to attend the sentencing hearing, but got a copy of the court transcript afterward. Due to a miscommunication, she said, Island County Superior Court Judge Vickie Churchill did not fully hear her thoughts.

“As it turns out, my perspective, accurately portrayed, actually would have made an impact on Judge Churchill’s sentencing of Mr. Duffus,” she said. “I appreciate her for saying that, and I wish — more than I can possibly say — that I had been present and able to speak up at that time.”

Shan Duffus, 21, a petty officer third class at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, pleaded guilty to unlawful display of a weapon, a gross misdemeanor, in Superior Court. He was originally charged with second-degree assault, a felony offense.

The incident occurred outside of Hizon’s home at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 19. Hizon said she walked out the door and Duffus was standing about eight feet away in the dark, pointing a handgun at her face.

“I thought I was going to die. I really did,” she said, adding she remembers thinking “this is how it ends.”

Though fearing she would be shot in the back, she ran back inside, locked the door, armed herself and called 911.

The police soon found Duffus stumbling around drunk in the roadway blocks away and arrested him.

The frightening incident has remained with her.

“I didn’t sleep for a few days,” she said, “and it was a few weeks before I could reach for the handle of my front door without my heart beating faster.”

Hizon said Island County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Eric Ohme was professional and compassionate, but that there was “a massive miscommunication” about her wishes.

Tuesday, Churchill reluctantly agreed with the plea bargain. She sentenced Duffus to 364 days with 364 days suspended. That means he won’t have to serve the time unless he’s found to have violated the conditions of his two-year term of supervision; he can’t own a gun during that period. He also must forfeit his gun to the police and lost his concealed pistol license for a year.

Ohme said he negotiated the plea bargain because of the difficulty of proving the case at trial due to the uncertainty surrounding Hizon’s identification of Duffus.

Hizon told the 911 operator that she was “50 percent sure” the suspect was white, Ohme said. The officer drove him to Hizon and asked her to identify him, and she said she was “75 percent sure” it was him, he said.

Ohme said the “show-up identification” in which the police present a single suspect to a witness to identify “is not favored in the law.” He said it was likely a judge would suppress the identification, leaving him nothing to prove the case.

Ohme also contacted the Navy. Base officials declined to prosecute him because of the identification issue but said they were moving forward with separation.

Hizon said her main concern about the outcome was that Duffus didn’t plead guilty to a felony charge, which would have barred him from owning a gun. She said the plea was worked out without her agreement.

She would have preferred, she said, to see the case through to the end.

Hizon said Ohme explained his reasoning to her and she understood the legal limitations. She is pleased Duffus’ access to guns is restricted.

She said she thought  the outcome was out of her hands, but learned, from reading the transcript, that it wasn’t entirely true.

In court, Churchill said she wouldn’t have followed the recommendation “if the victim had not requested it.”

“Reading those words broke my heart,” Hizon said.

Ohme said he was surprised by her concerns and felt he conveyed her feelings accurately in court.

“It is unfortunate that there was a miscommunication here,” he said. “ I spoke to Ms. Hizon on the telephone the week prior to the guilty plea and did my best to explain the terms of the agreement in detail.  It was my understanding from that phone call that Ms. Hizon understood the provisions and was in agreement with them.”

He said he told her that it was an excellent outcome given the problems with the case.

As for Duffus, Hizon hopes he understands the seriousness of what he did. She points out that, at some point that night, he made a decision to drink while armed with a loaded gun.

“Maybe he’ll do some growing up in the next couple of years,” she said.