After sentence to state prison, Tetrault damages court door

ALBION – Robert W. Tetrault received a maximum sentence to 2 to 4 years in state prison today. He didn’t like the punishment.

He turned his back on Orleans County Court Judge James Punch when the sentencing was announced. Then when Tetrault was led out of court he kicked a door open, cracking the glass in a small window in the door. He will likely face criminal mischief charges for that, Punch said.

Tetrault, 32, of Albion was sentenced for attempted second-degree assault and third-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He pleaded guilty to the crime on Aug. 19, and faced the possibility of a minimum sentence of 1 ½ to 3 years in state prison.

But Punch opted for the maximum sentence, citing “a random act of violence that makes no sense.”

Tetrault had a knife when he was fighting with his brother Chris Tetrault on May 23. Chris’s wife Wendy attempted to intervene in the fight and suffered “a severe laceration across her hand” from the knife, District Attorney Joe Cardone said in August when Tetrault pleaded guilty.

Tetrault’s attorney Nathan Pace said his client has worked through drug and alcohol counseling and had not been in trouble with the law since 2005.

Punch said the recklessness of the assault and Tetrault’s criminal history prompted the maximum sentence.

“You’re living by the craze year after year,” Punch said during the sentencing.