By Lisa Trigg
TERRE HAUTE — A Seelyville woman who admitted to battering another woman with a glass beer mug received a four-year prison sentence Monday.
Jennifer J. Bealmer, 29, pleaded guilty to class-C felony battery by means of a deadly weapon in the Sept. 9, 2007 incident at the Fontanet Tavern.
As part of the plea agreement, she also admitted to battering another person with a beer bottle on Jan. 11, 2008, and was sentenced to time already served in jail.
Judge David Bolk heard testimony from the victim in the 2007 incident before pronouncing sentence in Vigo Superior Court 3. The victim, a 27-year-old Indianapolis woman, stated she was attending a bachelorette party with 11 friends when the group went to the tavern to listen to a band. She said the attack was unprovoked, and left her with permanent scars on her face as well as more than $1,100 in medical bills.
Bealmer testified that she has stopped drinking since the time of the two incidents, and that she is willing to pay restitution to the victim. She also apologized to the victim, and called the incident an “accident.”
Defense attorney Mark Inman asked the judge to consider home detention for Bealmer because she has three very young children.
Bolk took issue with Bealmer characterizing her actions as an “accident” because she continued to batter the victim after striking her with the glass mug. He also noted the other battery charge that occurred just a few months after the 2007 attack, and pointed out that Bealmer has a lengthy record of prior “driving offenses and crimes of dishonesty.” He called the victim’s injuries “not life-threatening, but life-altering.”
The judge stated that Bealmer will serve her sentence in the Department of Correction, with two years of the four-year sentence suspended. He also ordered Bealmer to receive alcohol and drug counseling in prison. Bolk said he would consider a sentence modification if she completes the counseling.
He ordered restitution, but took the amount under advisement to be determined later.
Bealmer indicated she intends to appeal the sentence, and the judge appointed a public defender to handle her appeal.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
