Man receives 4-year sentence for assault

YOUNGSTOWN -- Randall J. Bennett Jr., 24, of Starwick Drive, Canfield, was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday for beating up a man outside a West Side bar in December 2002. A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court convicted Bennett of felonious assault last week.
Authorities said he punched Michael Yeany in the head at least twice in the parking lot outside the Casaloma Gardens bar on Mahoning Avenue, knocked him to the ground and kicked him. Bennettsaid it was Yeany who provoked him to fight.
Witnesses said the two had exchanged words inside the bar earlier that night, apparently over a woman. Yeany suffered a fractured skull and other injuries as a result of the assault.
Judge Maureen A. Cronin called Bennett a "walking random act of violence." She gave him credit for 14 months he spent in the county jail awaiting trial, as required by law.
Assistant Prosecutor Jason Katz had requested a six-year sentence, and defense attorney Mark Lavelle asked that Bennett be given a suspended prison sentence and placed on probation.