PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Warwick man was sentenced in Kent County Superior Court to serve four years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) following his arrest in 2020 for assaulting a former girlfriend, causing serious injuries.
Gregory Ward (age 38) entered a plea of nolo contendere to domestic felony assault, resulting in serious bodily injury.
At a hearing on July 29, before Superior Court Magistrate John F. McBurney III, the court sentenced Ward to 10 years at the ACI with four years to serve and the balance of the sentence suspended with probation. The court further ordered that Ward must complete a batterer's intervention program and issued a No Contact Order between Ward and his victim.
At the time of the assault, Ward was on probation stemming from a previous assault perpetrated against the same victim in 2019.
"For as long as I have been a prosecutor, domestic violence cases have been among those that have troubled me the most, because of the physical and emotional harm they cause, oftentimes long lasting," said Attorney General Neronha. "Given this defendant's history of domestic abuse, putting him in prison for an extended period, where his ability to harm current or prior domestic partners he views as vulnerable will be eliminated, is entirely appropriate. I am grateful to the victim for coming forward and displaying great courage throughout this case."
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that during the early morning hours of August 31, 2020, Ward severely beat his former girlfriend at her home in Warwick, inflicting serious injuries.
Prior to the assault, the victim encountered Ward at a nearby bar and he later followed her home, despite the victim telling Ward to leave her alone.
Following the assault, the victim woke up bleeding from her head and without her cell phone. She ran to a next-door neighbor's home to call the police.
The victim was transported to the hospital and was treated for serious injuries, including facial fractures, lacerations on her scalp, and a brain bleed.
Special Assistant Attorney General David T. Bonzagni of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Christian Vargas of the Warwick Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case.
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