YORKVILLE - A Kendall County jury has found an Aurora man guilty in a January 2019 shooting at a Montgomery restaurant/bar that injured two people.

In a statement, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said the jury convicted Josua Matias, 25, of the 400 block of Marion Avenue on two count charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm following a two-day trial at the courthouse last week.

The jury deliberated for two hours before returning guilty verdicts on the charges.

Matias, who had previously entered guilty pleas to two weapons charges related to the same incident, will be sentenced on the charges Dec. 9. He is facing a six-30 year jail term on each of the three charges.

If the court finds that the victims suffered severe bodily injury, the sentences would run consecutive (back to back) to each other resulting in a minimum sentence of 18 years. The weapons charges would be served concurrently, according to Weis.

During the trial, Weis said Matias was with friends at a crowded restaurant/bar in the 2000 block of Orchard Road in Montgomery. Following an argument between Matias and another patron, a fight broke out resulting in about 10 people becoming involved in a brawl inside of the business. As the fight was breaking up, Matias worked his way out of the group and pulled out a handgun and fired at least seven shots into the crowd, striking two people who each sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Agents for the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended Matias in St. Charles on Jan. 16, 2019. Matias had been wanted on a Kendall County warrant, secured by Montgomery police.

Weis praised the work of the Montgomery Police Department, the Kendall County Major Crimes Task Force and the Aurora Police Department for their hard work investigating this crime.

Weis also commended First Assistant Mark Shlifka and Assistant State’s Attorney Ryan Phelps for prosecuting the case and securing the guilty verdicts. Matias was represented by attorney Alex Bederka.

“Safety in our community is of paramount importance. We cannot tolerate the conduct of this defendant who put the lives of so many people in jeopardy because his ego was hurt. Fortunately, each of the victims have recovered from their injuries and no other patrons were injured,” Weis said in the statement.