COEUR d’ALENE — A man who prosecutors said pointed a gun at another man and called him racist slurs during a family dispute will not spend additional time in jail.

Blake J. Weatherly, 31, of Rathdrum, pleaded guilty to exhibition of a deadly weapon, a misdemeanor.

First District Judge Destry Randles sentenced Weatherly on Monday to four days in jail with credit for one day served and will allow him to complete two shifts with the Sheriff’s Community Labor Program in lieu of serving the remaining jail time. Weatherly must complete an anger management class and will spend one year on unsupervised probation. 

“Rarely have I come across an incident like this where a firearm was involved and it didn’t end worse,” Randles said before handing down the sentence, which was in line with the prosecuting attorney’s recommendation. 

Prosecutors originally charged Weatherly with malicious harassment and aggravated assault, both felonies, but later reduced the charges as part of a plea agreement. 

The charges stemmed from March 8, when Rathdrum police responded to a possible domestic dispute involving Weatherly and a man who was dating Weatherly’s family member. 

The reporting party, who is a Black man, told police that he had accompanied his girlfriend to pick up her child, who was visiting Weatherly. An argument ensued. 

“Things got heated when the defendant went into a car and pulled out his gun,” prosecuting attorney Jefferson Douglas said. 

Prosecutors said Weatherly waved the gun around and told the reporting party, “I will hang you by a tree, N-word,” using the full slur. 

“The facts on this case are rather concerning,” Douglas said. 

Weatherly’s attorney, Craig Zanetti, acknowledged that his client pulled out a gun during the altercation. 

“This is an extremely isolated incident that got really inflamed and out of control,” he said. 

In a 911 recording played in court, the reporting party could be heard calling Weatherly names, challenging him to fight and telling him to “put the gun down.” Zanetti said the reporting party’s words led to his client’s reaction. 

“It caused a very passionate man to have a very poor response,” Zanetti said. 

Randles said Weatherly escalated the conflict by adding a firearm to the situation. 

“This whole situation is full of bad decisions, the least of which is exposing this young child to all of this,” he said.