WILLMAR - Sonny Alexander Spears, 20, was sentenced Thursday on a felony charge of making terroristic threats.
Spears was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which was stayed for five years. He was placed on supervised probation for five years and ordered to serve 126 days in jail and given credit for 126 days already served. He was ordered to pay fines and court fees of $1,290.
The sentencing record includes 26 conditions for his probation, such as using no alcohol or drugs, remaining law abiding and undergoing chemical assessment and cognitive skill training. He was also placed under a domestic abuse-no contact order and told to have no contact with the victim for the next five years.
Two charges were dismissed in a plea agreement - a felony charge of domestic assault by strangulation and a gross misdemeanor charge of domestic assault.
Spears was arrested in May, just few days after he was sentenced to probation on a felony charge of third-degree assault in connection with a stabbing in November 2014.
In the May case, he was accused of assaulting a woman and threatening to stab her with a pair of scissors. Bystanders directed a Willmar police officer to the apartment where the assault was taking place.
The officer reportedly heard a woman inside the apartment crying and saying “Let go of me. Get off of me,” the criminal complaint states. Upon entering the apartment, the officer found the alleged victim and also located Spears, who was arrested.
During an interview with law enforcement, the woman said Spears allegedly became violent during an argument, punching and kicking her numerous times and throwing her into a television.
At different points during the assault, Spears also allegedly strangled her and picked up scissors, threatening to stab her if she did not stop screaming.
The woman’s infant child was present during the assault. Injuries were visible on the female’s face, shoulders and head.
During an interview with law enforcement, Spears denied threatening the female with scissors or strangling her.
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