CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County circuit judge sentenced a Clendenin man to the maximum of six additional years in prison after a previously guilty plea in the attack of a former girlfriend.
William Heath, 44, was sentenced Thursday to 1to 5 years after pleading guilty in April to strangulation and one year for a guilty plea for the violation of a protective order.
The attack took place at a residence on Main Street in Elkview last August.
Health asked Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers to make his new prison time concurrent with convictions on separate charges.
“I’ve got a 75-year-old dad who needs me out there and I’ve got a fiancé who has a two-year-old boy that needs a daddy figure, he needs me in his life,” Heath said in a Teams call from state prison.
Akers denied the request.
“I can’t in good conscience give you concurrent sentences or credit for time served,” Akers said. “I have to take into consideration that you were already convicted of a felony when these new charges arose.”
Heath’s criminal record includes nine felony arrests and a number of misdemeanor arrests.
Heath said he was the one who was attacked. He said he shouldn’t have taken the law in his own hands.
“I sleep good because I was just trying to help myself. I’m sorry I really didn’t know what I was doing at the time,” he said.
The victim also testified. She told Heath he hurt her but she’s been able to move on.