LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster man pleaded guilty this week to an assault that left another man seriously injured in 2021.
Francisco Perez was sentenced by Judge Thomas Sponaugle to a term of 11.5 to 23 months in Lancaster County Prison after pleading guilty to assault charges. Sponaugle also ordered Perez to pay $39,000 in restitution, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
Perez is eligible for work release during his sentence, prosecutors said.
A tearful Perez told the court that he was defending his wife and stepdaughter, didn’t think he was going to cause the man injury and “made a bad choice.”
In asking Judge Sponaugle to accept the plea agreement, Perez added that he wanted to leave a bad past behind him and focus on being a husband and father.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman said Perez, a bodybuilder, “cold-cocked” the man by punching him in the face, adding that the man is “lucky to be alive.”
Perez, 56, punched the man in the face outside a retail store in the 800 block of East Chestnut Street in Lancaster in September 2021, knocking the man to the ground and causing him to lose consciousness when his head struck the asphalt.
The man had been involved in an argument with Perez’ wife and stepdaughter after being unable to complete a transaction when Perez stepped in.
Store employees and customers corralled the two men outside to de-escalate the situation, but a witness told police that Perez “sucker punched” the man in the face when he turned to walk away.
