Jason Gillson

ELY- After a year and a half, the curtain is finally being closed on the prosecution of Jason Keith Gillson, age 50, for his acts of assault and arson at his home at 45 E. Boundary St. in late summer of 2023.
Minnesota Sixth District Court Judge Robert Friday sentenced Gillson to 270 days at either the St. Louis County Jail or the Northeast Regional Corrections Center. He must report to serve his sentence on April 1. Gillson’s sentence is part of a plea bargain he negotiated in November that capped prison time at one year.
The charges arose from Gillson’s actions during two altercations with his girlfriend at his Boundary St. residence on Aug. 20 and Sept. 13, 2023. On Aug. 20, while trying to stop her from leaving his house, he shot his garage door and the tires of his girlfriend’s car. On Sept. 13, he shot both her wallet and cell phone, set his own house on fire, and fled from the scene in a panel truck, chased by police through Ely, Morse, Waasa, and Embarrass. After fleeing his vehicle on foot, he later assaulted the law enforcement officers who had to tase him to take him into custody.
Gillson pled guilty to three felonies, including discharging a firearm in the Aug. 20 incident and second-degree arson and fourth-degree assault of a peace officer in the Sept. 13 incident. The court dismissed the other charges.
In an arrangement typical of plea bargains, Judge Robert Friday imposed longer prison sentences which he suspended, or “stayed,” in exchange for split sentences of shorter jail time and probation. Friday sentenced Gillson to three years at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility for the arson, and a year and a day for both the assault and discharge of a firearm. Friday then stayed the three St. Cloud sentences for five years. In their place, he imposed five-year supervised probation, 270 days incarceration, and mandatory evaluation and treatment for substance abuse for each offense. The three identical sentences will run concurrently.