ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) – A judge has rejected a plea deal that would have had a 24-year-old St. Johnsbury man serve 104 days in jail on 52 consecutive weekends for manslaugher in the death of his hunting partner.

Judge Kathleen Manley, sitting in Vermont District Court for Caledonia County, said Jason Bean had showed “a complete disregard for the safety of others” while using a firearm and that there should be a “significant penalty.”

She gave him a week to decide whether to accept the minimum, one-year sentence on a manslaughter conviction or go to trial and hope for aquittal.

The ruling came Friday, after Bean, accused in the death of his 23-year-old friend Chad Lumbra, choked back tears and told a packed courtroom, “If I could bring Chad back I would. I’d trade places with him in a second if I could.”

It also came after Sheila Fenoff-Willett, Lumbra’s mother, told the court that the 104-day sentence would send “a very bad message to other irresponsible hunters. The message is not to worry, there are very little to no consequences for your actions,” she said.

The fatal shooting during deer hunting season in November of 2005 in Peacham came when, with darkness falling, Bean saw a dark shape that he thought was a coyote and fired his gun, only to discover he had shot his best friend, authorities said.

Bean called authorities to report the shooting and has been distraught about it ever since, said his lawyer, Douglas Willey.

“Every time he’s come to my office to talk about this case, he has cried,” Willey said. Bean’s parents also took the stand and spoke of the grief their son as suffered since the shooting.