JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 19-year-old Mt. Vernon man filed an open plea of guilty Tuesday in Jefferson County court to a charge stemming from a September incident in which he and two others were arrested in connection with shooting a person on a Mt. Vernon street.

Roderick Burnett Jr. was facing charges of Class 1 felony aggravated discharge of a firearm at an occupied structure and Class 3 felony possession of a firearm without a valid FOID.

Burnett pleaded guilty Tuesday to the aggravated discharge of a firearm charge in exchange for the lesser FOID violation being dismissed.

He was arrested in September along with 22-year-old Alexsis James and 19-year-old Isley Petties after they were pursued from the 900 block of South 25th Street in Mt. Vernon where a person had been shot.

An open plea of guilt does not admit wrongdoing but does admit that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to likely secure a guilty verdict if the case went to trial. The plea also does not have a specified sentence.

A Class 1 felony is punishable by between 4 and 15 years in prison without aggravating factors. Burnett is due back in court December 19 for a sentencing hearing.

Petties is due back in court December 4 for a pre-trial hearing. James, who is free on bond, was last due in court November 15, but the courthouse was closed due to weather. A follow-up hearing has not yet been scheduled.