NEW PHILADELPHIA — A man who previously killed his dog has been sentenced to serve three to four-and-a-half years in prison for stabbing a man in April.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Lehigh Thomakos sentenced Adam R. Soto on two charges of felonious assault on Monday, after the defendant pleaded guilty.
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The length of the sentence for Soto, 59, of 211 St. Clair Ave. SW, depends on his behavior in prison.
The felonious assault charges were lodged after he stabbed a man in the back of the shoulder with a knife April 6 in the 200 block of Front Avenue SW in New Philadelphia.
The victim spent two days in a hospital and endured pain and suffering throughout his rehabilitation, according to assistant county prosecutor Fred Scott.
The victim did not appear in court for Monday’s plea and sentencing.
Soto told the judge he was sorry for what he did.
“Your honor, I’m very ashamed for my actions against (the victim),” Soto said. “I was very wrong for my decision that day. I could have made a better, wiser decision and just walked away and I didn’t.”
Scott and public defender Nicole Stephan jointly recommended the sentence of three to four-and-a-half years.
Felonious assault carries a potential punishment of two to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
Also Monday, Thomakos imposed a two-year sentence on Soto for a previous conviction on two counts of attempted assault on a man who visited his home in July 2020. Thomakos had reserved the prison sentence for attempted assault and put Soto on probation for two years in April 2021. She imposed the sentence after determining Soto violated terms of probation by violating a no-contact order protecting the man he stabbed, and by drinking a beer the day he did it.
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Another common pleas judge previously imposed the remainder of a one-year sentence Soto got for killing his bulldog with a hatchet and knife July 26, 2020 on St. Clair Avenue SW in New Philadelphia. Judge Michael Ernest ordered Soto to serve 106 days on the animal cruelty charge. The time was imposed because Soto was found to have violated terms of two years’ probation ordered in the case.
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Soto has spent 109 days in the county jail since the stabbing, held on a $100,000 bond set in New Philadephia Municipal Court.
Thomakos is to determine how much time should be credited against Soto’s prison sentence for the days he has spent in jail this year.
Upon his release from prison, he is to spend 18 months to three years on parole. Thomakos also ordered him to pay court costs.
The judge said a background report showed Soto had a felony conviction for domestic vioelnce and a pattern of substance abuse that included consumption of alcohol starting at age 8 and use of marijuana starting at age 12.
Soto appeared in court Monday by video link from the county jail.
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or [email protected].
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR
