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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona man convicted of simple assault in a 2022 domestic dispute was sentenced Monday to two years' probation, with the first three months to be served on electronic monitoring that restricts him to home, work and medical appointments.
Judge Wade A. Kagarise handed down the sentence to 38-year-old James Paul Long with a warning to avoid probation violations.
"There's not a third chance for this kind of behavior," Kagarise said.
In April, a Blair County jury convicted Long of simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor, and acquitted him of second-degree felony charges of strangulation and witness/victim intimidation and a first-degree misdemeanor offense of terroristic threats.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Thomas asked Kagarise Monday to impose a sentence with incarceration on the simple assault conviction.
"He was on probation when these charges were incurred," Thomas said.
Long was previously sentenced to probation in August 2021, when he entered no contest pleas to strangulation and simple assault charges that developed from a 2019 incident with a different woman.
Defense attorney Ted Krol reminded Kagarise that the jury, in April, convicted Long only of simple assault and not the other charges that reflected the woman's version of what happened.
"Her version should be stricken from the record," Krol said in asking for a probationary sentence.
Altoona police charged Long after an investigation into the couple's fight on Feb. 24, 2022, at their residence on the 300 block of Crawford Avenue.
Long and the woman, who both testified during trial, spoke of being on the second floor when she began using a cellphone to record their escalating argument.
The woman accused Long of trying to take the phone from her and of pushing her onto the bed where put his hand over her nose and mouth. Testimony indicated that their fight continued to the first floor where Long admitted to hitting her once, but he denied strangling or restraining her.
In court Monday, Long spoke of how he shouldn't have been at the residence that day and how the woman had kept him from leaving the residence.
The woman, in a statement read aloud in court, told the judge: "I wish he would admit to what he did and stop trashing my name."
The woman's statement also accused Long of pretending to be innocent and spoke of the flashbacks she continues to experience.
Kagarise told the woman he appreciated her statement and did not find it to be inconsistent. The judge also said that when tumultuous situations occur, one person's testimony and interpretation of what happened can vary from someone else's.
Long's probationary sentence, monitored by the county parole and probation office, requires him to enroll in an anger management course. He also is required to follow treatment recommended in mental health and drug and alcohol evaluations. Being on probation also requires Long to avoid all use of alcohol and to submit to testing.
"I will not tolerate violations of this probation order," Kagarise told Long.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.