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Man gets six years for machete attack By CHRIS BRISTOL A Jacksonville man who repeatedly slashed his wife with a machete was sentenced Tuesday to nearly six years in prison. Salvador Garcia-Delossantos, 33, was sentenced to 70 months under Measure 11 for the July 1 attack, which left his wife with nerve damage to her legs. When Garcia agreed to plead guilty to second-degree assault, prosecutors dropped a related charge of fourth-degree assault. Through an interpreter, Garcia politely thanked authorities for stopping him -- "so nothing further happened" -- and suggested that alcohol was partly to blame. "I'll take it (punishment) and receive it with all my heart," he said. Judge Patricia Crain was not moved. "It's easy to be remorseful after the fact," she said, adding, "Many people get drunk but don't hit their partners with machetes. You have some problem in addition to alcohol." Deputy District Attorney Terry Smith said the attack occurred after Garcia confronted his wife, April Herrera, 24, when she arrived home later than expected. Her car had broken down. In a rage, Garcia slashed his wife's legs at least five to six times and then picked up a compound bow and threatened to kill her, Smith said. The victim fled the house and hid in a neighbor's yard until sheriff's deputies arrived. Despite nerve damage to her legs, the victim's injuries were probably not life-threatening, Smith said. "Luckily the blade of the machete is on the dull side." Smith described Garcia as a man who used violence, or the threat of violence, to get what he wanted. The attack culminated years of escalating abuse. "If everything wasn't to his liking, he would physically abuse her," Smith said. "It happened on a pretty regular basis." Garcia knew why his wife was late, she added. The family had been at Applegate Lake earlier in the day and his wife took the car to a friend's house to see if it could be fixed. "He was just looking for an excuse," she said. "That's a real common pattern -- looking for any sort of trigger ... as an excuse" to attack. The couple has three children, Smith noted. The oldest child, 5-year-old Adriana, witnessed the attack. Under the terms of Measure 11, Garcia must serve the entire 70-month sentence in prison. He will then be deported to his native Mexico. If he ever returns to the United States, he faces a stiff sentence in federal prison. Federal authorities aggressively prosecute illegal aliens who have been previously deported for felonies or certain misdemeanors involving violence or drugs. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA