Defendant Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Time Served.

By D.C. Witness Staff - July 14, 2020
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Probation | Suspects | Victims |

On July 14, a domestic violence defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served.

The defendant was brought before the court in four domestic violence cases. He pleaded guilty to contempt for violating a court order to stay away from his wife and her place of residence on May 21. As part of a plea agreement with the prosecution, his other charges of simple assault, second-degree theft and violating a temporary protective order (TPO) were dropped.

The defendant has been in jail for 54 days while he awaits trial. Judge John McCabe  sentenced him to time served without probation.

The prosecution requested that the defendant be sentenced to three months of incarceration followed by one year of probation. The prosecution also asked that he receive drug and alcohol treatment and be ordered not to harass, assault, threaten or stalk his wife. 

The prosecutor said there is a history of the defendant’s wife contacting the police. He “needs to be made to understand that court orders are not just suggestions,” counsel said.

Defense attorney Hannah Akintoye requested that her client receive credit for time served so he would not have to spend more time behind bars. She also asked that he receive one year of probation.

Akintoye said COVID-19 has brought out the worst in domestic relationships, and that the defendant and his wife have agreed to attend counseling.

“The only reason I called the police is because I thought that my husband took money from me,” the defendant’s wife said during the sentencing hearing. “But I found my money. So it’s all a misunderstanding.”

The defendant’s wife also said that she needed him home to aid her in health issues, and that the couple is planning on moving out of Washington, DC.