HOLLIDAYSBURG — A 20-year-old Altoona man will serve 58 to 116 months in a state prison for last year’s accidental fatal shooting of his longtime friend.

Michael “Tony” Corle, charged in the Sept. 29, 2016, death of 21-year-old William T. “Billy” Callan, entered guilty pleas Thursday in Blair County Court to charges of aggravated assault and tampering with evidence.

In exchange for the pleas, Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio and defense attorney Ted Krol agreed to recommend a minimum sentence between 54 and 60 months, reflecting the standard range of the state’s sentencing guidelines for aggravated assault.

Judge Daniel Milliron, who accepted the pleas, settled on the imposed sentence after hearing from Corle, his family members and Callan’s family members.

“I am completely satisfied with 60 months,” Corle said flatly when addressing Milliron. “What I’ve done is inexcusable. … The pain I’ve caused the family. … Billy is like a brother to me.”

Krol told Milliron that he advised Corle to take the case to trial. A conviction on involuntary manslaughter, a charge that Krol described as more appropriate given what happened, would have resulted in less jail time.

“But Michael doesn’t want to go to trial,” Krol said.

Altoona police arrested and charged Corle after learning that he shot Callan in the head during a leisurely gathering at an apartment on the 1600 block of Second Avenue where Callan lived with his mother, Rebecca.

Police said the pair, along with a third young man, were in the apartment playing video games and smoking marijuana when Corle allegedly pulled a revolver from a backpack, prompting a discussion about what was the best weapon, a knife or a gun.

Police investigators said the third young man, who witnessed the shooting, told them Corle was opening and closing the revolver’s cylinder, pulling on the trigger and playing with the hammer just before pointing the gun at Callan’s head and laughing. The witness said that prompted Callan to laugh, then the gun went off.

Police described the shooting as reckless, negligent and unintentional.

Krol asked Milliron to impose the lesser minimum sentence of 54 months, pointing out that Corle is taking responsibility for what happened and is very remorseful.

Milliron, who said he reviewed the case record prior to proceedings, told Krol: “It was a gun he wasn’t permitted to have.”

Court documents indicate that Corle took the gun, which belonged to his late grandfather, from an unlocked gun cabinet at his grandmother’s home. After the shooting, he buried it near Pleasant Valley Elementary School, leading to the tampering with evidence charge.

Consiglio told the judge that the gun’s trigger needed to be cocked before it would fire.

“This was so reckless … so criminally negligent that we could not agree to a sentence at the bottom of the standard range,” Consiglio said.

Rebecca Callan carried a framed picture of her son to the front of the courtroom and showed it to Milliron.

“This is Billy, someone I’ll never be able to see again,” she said.

The mother asked Milliron to impose the 60-month minimum sentence. She said the loss of her son ended her life.

“I’m broken, and I’ll remain broken for the rest of my life,” Rebecca Callan said.

Callan’s stepmother, Stacy Laible, said her family members keep asking for the reasons behind Corle’s actions.

“Why did you get to play God and take someone’s life in your own hands?” Laible said.

Corle’s family members also addressed Milliron.

“He’s 20 years old,” father Michael Corle said of his son. “What he did was a terrible mistake. Him and Billy were always together.”

“I know what happened was careless,” Heather Koelle, the defendant’s mother, told the judge. “It could have easily been the other way around.”

Milliron’s sentencing order directs Corle to have no contact with the victim’s family, unless they consent. It also directs Corle to be transferred from the Blair County Prison to a state facility as soon as possible. He is to be credited for time served. Online records indicate that he has been in jail since his arrest on Sept. 30, 2016.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.