PARIS — A 29-year-old man charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend and threatening her father in October was sentenced to prison Monday.

John Michael Wallace Jr. of 20 Deering St. in Paris pleaded guilty in Oxford County Superior Court to charges of criminal threatening and assault. Justice William Brodrick accepted a plea agreement sentencing Wallace to serve nine months and one day of a four-year prison term and two years of probation.

Assistant District Attorney Joe O’Connor said Wallace threatened to kill the then 54-year-old father of his ex-girlfriend when the man came to his apartment to get his daughter’s apartment key. O’Connor said Wallace threatened to kill the man and swung at him with a knife, but did not injure him.

Wallace’s then 22-year-old ex-girlfriend told police that Wallace had assaulted her and punched her in the face the night before the incident.

Defense attorney John Jenness Jr. said there was the possibility that Wallace could be exonerated on the basis of self-defense, but chose to plead because a jury could find him guilty.

According to the indictment, Wallace has assault convictions from Cumberland County in 2000 and York County in 2002. O’Connor said Wallace has a criminal history, mostly of misdemeanors, but also convictions for burglary and aggravated criminal mischief.

Wallace will begin serving his sentence on Aug. 31.

mlangeveld@sunjournal.com

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