COEUR d’ALENE — A 75-year-old man who previously avoided prison for shooting his wife has forfeited that gift.

After pleading guilty to aggravated battery for the October 2020 shooting of his wife, the Coeur d’Alene man received a suspended sentence that would’ve allowed him to spend the rest of his life in an assisted living facility.

He reportedly has just months left to live due to severe health issues.

The Press is not naming him because that would reveal the identity of the victim.

Citing his poor prognosis, First District Judge Cynthia Meyer handed down an indeterminate 10-year sentence in the case.

She placed the man on supervised probation for five years and required that he reside in assisted living or hospice care.

Sandpoint police responded in August to the facility where the man resided, after a health care worker said the man battered her.

She told police the man grabbed her hand hard enough that she “felt something pop.”

Medical records indicate her hand was either fractured or had a pinched nerve, according to court documents.

After the alleged battery, the facility began the process of evicting him.

Police obtained a warrant for his arrest on the grounds that he violated the terms of his probation.

Last week, prosecutors asked First District Judge Cynthia Meyer to impose the man’s underlying 10-year prison sentence in order to protect the public.

Judge Meyer said this is one of the most difficult cases she’s dealt with.

The man is elderly and nearing the end of his life, Meyer said. He has reportedly been approved for hospice care.

On the other hand, she noted, he shot his wife in the back.

His former wife said in court that she lost several organs as a result of the shooting and will experience significant health effects for the rest of her life.

He also reportedly injured a health care worker within days of receiving his suspended sentence.

“I don’t think anyone wanted to see him in prison if there was something else that could be done where the public could be safe,” Meyer said. “We tried.”

Probation is not appropriate, Meyer said, in part because the man has nowhere to go. His adult children have been unable to find another facility in the area willing to accept him, according to court documents.

Confining the man to jail long-term isn’t appropriate either, Meyer said.

Noting that prisons are equipped to care for the man’s medical needs, Meyer imposed the underlying 10-year sentence.

“I believe he is finding himself (in prison) with the choices he made,” she said.

Upon imprisonment, the man will reportedly go through a six-month process to determine if he’s eligible for parole.

The Commission of Pardons and Parole will ultimately decide if he should be released.