Cook sentenced Exton to up to 24½ years. A jury conviction is not a new charge.

A sentence after a jury verdict is the end of the trial phase, not a new accusation. On Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gary Cook sentenced Matthew Exton, 43, a former Ohio lawyer, to up to 24½ years in prison after a jury convicted him earlier this month of two counts of attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault, plus firearm specifications under Ohio law, as NBC News reported the counts. The term is what the court imposed on those convictions, and the reporting did not give a day-for-day number.

The April 11, 2025 incident was at Sabira restaurant in downtown Toledo. Prosecutors said Exton aimed a Colt Defender handgun at his ex-wife at close range as she sat with her mother. The gun did not fire because the safety was engaged. A waiter and others tackled him. That is the reported account of the April 11 incident. Monday was the sentencing on the conviction. It was not a new trial, and it was not a new charging document.

At sentencing, Exton argued he never intended to kill or hurt anyone and called the charges political. He said, as reported, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." His argument at sentencing does not reopen the verdict. Judge Cook played surveillance video and said Exton appeared to scramble to fix the safety after the weapon failed to fire, calling that moment what cemented intent, as reported. That is what the judge said about the video. It is not a new count. Prosecutors argued a mass-casualty event in a crowded restaurant was narrowly avoided. That is the State's sentencing argument. Exton's Ohio law license remains suspended. A suspension is bar status. It is not a count in the judgment. This reporting does not describe a notice of appeal.