* We have a good example in Champaign County about how this state can enact the strongest gun-crime laws in the country and everyone can still wind up shaking their heads in disbelief when a gun offender gets out of prison and almost immediately kills somebody.

The defendant in this case is Robbie Patton, who is wanted for the murder of one person and the wounding of three others in a now infamous shooting incident near the University of Illinois campus.

Patton was sent to a boot camp instead of prison and released after serving a combined 259 days in local jail and the camp…

Although the Champaign County state’s attorney’s office objected to the 18-year-old being considered for the military-like alternative to imprisonment, Judge Tom Difanis recommended Patton for the program, formally known as Impact Incarceration.

“None of us have a crystal ball. By noting that we objected, I am not criticizing Judge Difanis. At this point, the responsibility for what happened Sunday is on Robbie Patton,” State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said. […]

Patton pleaded guilty in April before Difanis to aggravated discharge of a firearm, admitting that on Dec. 14, 2015, he fired a gun in the direction of a person in the parking lot of the Steak ’n Shake, 2010 N. Prospect Ave., C.

Probation is an option for that Class 1 felony, but Patton’s eight-year prison sentence was a result of a plea agreement negotiated by Assistant State’s Attorney Matt Banach and Patton’s Champaign attorney, Dan Jackson.

OK, wait. Eligibility for boot camp requires that sentences be no longer than 8 years. So, while the state’s attorney did publicly object to boot camp, her office negotiated a plea deal that made boot camp possible.

And, as a local article points out, “boot camp recommendations by Champaign County judges for first-time young adult offenders are common.” The state’s attorney’s office had to know that boot camp was a likely outcome of that deal.

* OK, let’s back up a second. Here’s an explanation of Patton’s original crime…

Patton is thought to have fired a gun at two men in the parking lot of the restaurant about 5:30 p.m. on that Monday. Police said he and Antonio Wright were inside the restaurant when they were approached by two men who asked them to step outside.

They did, and Patton retrieved a gun from a sport utility vehicle and fired it at the other men. No one was hit.

Shooting at people in a crowded public area. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s pretty much exactly what Patton is being accused of now.

* Patton was also arrested just two days after being paroled…

On Sept. 11 — two days after being granted parole — UI police arrested him for allegedly lying about his identity. A police report said Patton was a passenger in a car that police stopped about 1:15 a.m. that Sunday near Green and Locust streets for an alleged traffic violation.

Smelling cannabis emanating from the car, police had the driver, Tyren Mercier, 18, of Champaign, get out. He was later arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of cocaine after police said they found individually wrapped packages of cocaine in his wallet. Patton was released from the county jail that same day after posting bond and was later charged with misdemeanor obstruction of identification.

Um, according to the circuit court clerk’s website, Patton was released without bond (click here and input the case number of 16CM000877). But, whatever. That’s neither here nor there, I suppose.

So, two weeks after he was released on parole, and days after he got out of jail for another offense, Patton allegedly killed one person and injured three more over an escalated argument about a spilled drink.

* I’m not saying we shouldn’t have tougher gun-crime laws. I’m solidly on record in favor of them. They’re needed. But prosecutors always have discretion to reduce charges to avoid triggering longer sentences. And they can also agree to let people out of jail without posting bond.

Changing laws won’t change those facts of legal life.