STUART — A judge today convicted a 38-year-old Hobe Sound man on a weapons charge, just three months before his scheduled trial on accusation that he shot and killed a 19-year-old Stuart man during a January fight with another man.

Eric Wiley will face trial in February in connection with the death of Levi “Dwight” Starks, but on Tuesday Judge Sherwood Bauer convicted him on a single unrelated charge of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon at the end of a three-hour non-jury trial.

The charge usually carries a maximum 15-year sentence, but Assistant State Attorney Vicki Nichols on Monday filed paperwork seeking to have Wiley sentenced as a habitual offender, which means he could face up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.

Wiley was arrested in January after Starks died outside a Stuart duplex. According to court records, Wiley told Stuart police he was fighting with his sister’s boyfriend when the gun they were struggling over accidentally fired and a shot hit Starks. Starks was at the house visiting a friend and was not involved in the fight.
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