Richland man gets 15 months in prison for assaulting wife

A 30-year-old Richland man was sentenced to one year and three months in prison for hitting and strangling his wife during an argument earlier this month.

Lucas James Deering pleaded guilty Thursday in Benton County Superior Court to second-degree assault with domestic violence. He faced a sentence of up to one year and eight months in prison, but prosecutors agreed to recommend the low-end sentence.

"This is the last time you're going to see me in here," Deering told Judge Craig Matheson.

Deering was arrested Aug. 1 by Richland police after his wife reported the attack. She said he got mad at her and hit her with a heavy dish while they were in the kitchen, court documents stated.

He then punched her in the face and began strangling her until she lost consciousness, documents stated.

She said she woke up on the floor and had tunnel vision and was so scared, her heart was beating rapidly, documents stated.

At the time of the arrest, Deering initially denied hitting or choking his wife and said he flipped a large dish that hit her in the face.

Defense attorney Larry Zeigler on Thursday said his client has not had any problems for several years until this incident, which happened when he was drinking.

Deering reportedly is concerned about whether he can see his young daughter, and Zeigler told the judge that he has told Deering that he's going to help him with that when he gets out of prison.

Matheson agreed to follow the recommendation and told Deering he has to address his problems.

"I do think that probably means you need to quit drinking," he said. "A lot of people drink, and they don't end up hitting people or choking people, particularly women. You have to address that pattern as well."

Court drops possession of stolen vehicle charge

A 25-year-old Kennewick woman who was among three dozen people arrested by a joint law enforcement fraud task force had one charge dismissed Wednesday in court.

Lacey Marie Stephens had been charged in Benton County Superior Court with possession of a stolen vehicle, but prosecutors dropped the charge after receiving information to support her claim that she didn't know the car was stolen, documents stated.

When Stephens was stopped by Richland police April 25, she said she was attempting to return the Honda Accord to the person she believed was the rightful owner, documents stated.

Stephens, however, still faces a Sept. 24 trial for two counts of identity theft and second-degree possession of stolen property.

The charges stemmed from a search of her purse after she was arrested in the stolen Honda.

Officers found a Washington State Quest card that belonged to Adam Trujillo and a credit card that had the name Khin Mar on it, documents stated.

Stephens reportedly told detectives that she "may have" stolen the Quest card from Trujillo, but she did put it in her purse, documents stated.

Trujillo said he stayed at Stephens' house for a couple of nights and left his wallet behind when he went to work. He thinks the card was taken then, documents stated.

Mar told investigators that she found out someone had applied for a credit card in her name and had been using it around the Tri-Cities.

Mar's daughter, May Thant, reportedly admitted to applying for cards in her mother's name and giving them to people to use.

Stephens said Thant gave her the credit card and she used it to pay her Verizon bill and buy items at SunMart. Security video at SunMart showed Stephens making purchases, documents stated.

-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com

This story was originally published August 24, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Richland man gets 15 months in prison for assaulting wife ."