Staff photos / Guy Vogrin Scott S. McCleery talks to his attorney, Mary Ellen Ditchey, prior to a Wednesday sentencing hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

WARREN — A Niles man who received a split verdict last month from a Trumbull County jury was sentenced to an indefinite term of six- to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

Scott S. McCleery, 41, of Difford Drive, Niles, was convicted March 23 on charges of attempted rape, felonious assault and domestic violence. The jury acquitted him on charges of rape, a second count of felonious assault and disrupting public services.

At a hearing Wednesday, Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice chose to merge the attempted rape and felonious assault convictions for the purposes of sentencing. The judge then made the domestic violence punishment part of a consecutive term.

“Consecutive sentences are justified because of your conduct and total disregard for the law,” Rice said as he went over McCleery’s past criminal record, which began at the age of 20. It included five separate convictions of running an illegal tattoo parlor, Rice noted.

“You don’t think the law applies to you,” the judge told McCleery.

Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman told the judge he wanted the three convictions to be consecutive sentences, which would total more than 16 years. The judge, however, sided with defense attorney Mary Ellen Ditchey, who also argued for merging the attempted rape and felonious assault charges.

Rice also labeled McCleery a Tier 3 sex offender, which means after his release, he must register his workplace, home residence and any schooling locations with the sheriff’s department every 90 days for the rest of his life. Also after his release, McCleery faces five years of supervised probation.

The charges stemmed from a July 3, 2020, attack on McCleery’s 23-year-old former live-in girlfriend at the mobile home they shared after she had gone on a ladies night out. The attack included the use of a hammer and a knife.

The woman, tearful as she read from a prepared statement, said McCleery “deserved to go to prison for a lot of years.” She said since the night of the attack she has been terrified, always on edge and has nightmares.

“I wake up screaming. I have dreams of Scott killing me,” she said. “We were supposed to be a family. He was supposed to protect me, but he has hurt me more than anyone ever can.”

In his statement, McCleery apologized to the woman. He said he wants to piece his life together “sooner rather than later.”

During the two-day trial, she was among six prosecution witnesses. McCleery, the only defense witness, admitted to “trashing the mobile home” on Difford Drive and putting the victim in a headlock and stabbing a door inside the trailer with a knife to scare her. In closing, Ditchey pointed out there was no evidence that the knife touched the woman.

In his testimony, McCleery denied sexually assaulting her, as well as assaulting her sexually with the claw end of a hammer — as the prosecution alleged and the ex-girlfriend earlier testified to jurors.

After sentencing, Ditchey said her client plans to appeal.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com