In cases originating out of both Lincoln and Knox counties, a Rockport man pleaded guilty April 23 to charges of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, assault, and others as part of a deferred disposition agreement while other charges, including aggravated assault, were dismissed.
Jason Baughman, 47, was indicted by a Lincoln County grand jury on charges of class B aggravated assault and class C violation of condition of release in December 2014.
According to an affidavit by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Drake, Baughman and a woman had left the house of a mutual friend in Bremen on Aug. 8, 2014 and, “as he was driving he assaulted her by pulling her hair and slamming her head around the interior” of the vehicle.
“He then used his forearm to strangle her to the point where she could not [breathe],” Drake wrote. “She expressed to me that she feared that he was going to kill her.”
Baughman was prohibited from contact with the woman following an incident in Cushing in June 2014 where she was a witness to events leading to Baughman being arrested and later indicted with charges of criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, class C; reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, class C; terrorizing with a dangerous weapon, class C; and criminal mischief, class D, according to court documents.
The woman was also named as a victim of the terrorizing charge, according to the indictment.
On April 23, Baughman pleaded guilty to new charges of assault, class D, and violation of condition of release, class E, in exchange for the dismissal of the aggravated assault and felony violation of condition of release charges, according to court documents.
He also pleaded guilty to the criminal threatening and criminal mischief charges in exchange for the dismissal of the terrorizing and reckless conduct charges.
As part of a one-year deferred disposition agreement involving both cases, Baughman is required to refrain from new criminal conduct and complete substance abuse, mental health, and domestic violence counseling, among other conditions, according to court documents.
If Baughman successfully completes the agreement, the criminal threatening charge will be amended to a misdemeanor and he will be sentenced to 180 days in jail with all but 30 days suspended and one year of probation, along with concurrent sentences of 30 days for the criminal mischief charge and 27 days for the assault and violation of condition of release charges, and a $300 fine.
If Baughman is unsuccessful, he could face any legal sentence for the charges, according to the agreement.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody, the prosecutor in the case, said the deferred disposition came in light of Baughman’s criminal history, the strength of the evidence in the case, and the potential risks of going to trial.
According to Baroody, the victim in one of the cases was “very uncooperative” and gave conflicting stories; the same victim was also an essential witness in the other case.
In a third case, Baughman pleaded guilty to charges of violation of condition of release, class C, and operating after suspension, class E, in exchange for dismissal of a class E refusing to submit to arrest charge, according to court documents.
According to a report by Knox County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Joslyn, Joslyn was investigating a complaint of partying in a gravel pit on Old Augusta Road in Warren on April 11 when he positively identified the driver of a vehicle as Baughman and later identified Baughman’s passenger as the victim in the assault case.
Baughman was prohibited from contact with the woman via his bail conditions, and his license was suspended at the time, according to Joslyn’s report.
Baughman faces an agreed-to sentence of 30 days in the Warren case, which is contingent on the deferred disposition in the other two cases going smoothly, according to Baroody.
Walt McKee, Baughman’s defense attorney, confirmed the agreed-to sentence for the Warren case but had no other comment on the cases.
Baughman is due in court on April 22, 2016 at 1 p.m. for dispositional and sentencing hearings, according to court documents.