AUGUSTA (AP) – A Randolph man will be sentenced next week after being convicted of deliberately driving over a cat carrier and crushing a pregnant cat that belonged to his girlfriend.

A Kennebec County Superior Court jury on Wednesday found John W. Witham, 27, guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals, criminal mischief and cruelty to animals. The jury cleared him of a charge of terrorizing Jessica James, his girlfriend at the time.

Witham picked up James’ cat from her mother’s house on Feb. 26 and brought the crated animal to James’ home in Augusta. The couple argued, and Witham dropped the crate out his pickup tuck window when James refused to get the cat.

He then backed up in the driveway, crushing the crate. Published accounts of the incident brought outrage from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as well as a plea to bar Witham from contact with animals.

Witham’s attorney, Andrews Campbell, maintained Witham’s action was accidental.

James, in a letter to District Attorney Evert Fowle, said she, too, believed it was an accident. She said she initially exaggerated the circumstances because she was angry at Witham, with whom she had been living for 10 months.

“I was extremely upset with John when I was filling out the (police) report,” she wrote. “I took my aggression and pain from the loss of my cat out on that paper.”

Fowle said he would seek a sentence that reflects the severity of the crime.

“This is probably the worst, most egregious animal cruelty case I’ve seen,” Fowle said.

Campbell said he would appeal the verdict.

“We felt this was too heavy a charge for the action,” he said. “There’s a very serious question whether the incident was an accident.”