Friday, July 25, 2014
Staff report
WARREN
A man with a history of assaults on law-enforcement officers received a seven-year prison term Thursday.
James D. Fudge, 24, of Prospect Avenue Northwest, pleaded guilty earlier to felonious assault for head-butting a bailiff for Warren Municipal Court while being escorted to the Trumbull County jail.
On Thursday, Judge Ronald Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court sentenced Fudge to one year less than the maximum.
The incident occurred Oct. 3, 2013, as bailiff Jessie Howard was taking handcuffs off of Fudge in a holding cell at the jail. The bailiff was returning Fudge to the jail after a hearing in Warren Municipal Court on menacing and trespass charges.
Fudge head-butted Howard, causing a laceration that required seven stitches to close, said Mike Burnett, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor.
Howard spoke at Fudge’s sentencing Thursday, saying he forgives Fudge.
But Judge Rice cited Fudge’s lengthy criminal record, including prior convictions for causing physical harm, a previous prison term, assault on a prison guard; and a pending felony-assault case from December involving a corrections officer at the county jail.
Warren police department records also say that Fudge punched Warren Patrolman Brian Martinek in the face at 3 a.m. July 13 when the officer went to Fudge’s home for a disturbance. Martinek suffered a bloody nose. A felony assault charge is pending in Warren Municipal Court in that case.