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A day after pleading guilty to threatening to kill his ex-wife and assaulting her neighbor, a New Jersey man was sentenced Tuesday to a minimum of one year in state prison and three years of probation.
Amer Omar Ghayyada, 40, of Lincoln Park, New Jersey, drove to his ex-wife's house, in Loyalsock Township, in August of last year, and pushed himself against her and said: "Come on hit me. I can pull out your trachea. I am a doctor now and I know how to kill you."
After the victim escaped the home with three of her children in tow, a next door neighbor went into the home to help her last two kids leave the scene. Ghayyada grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against a wall, police said.
Ghayyada agreed to an open plea agreement Monday morning, leaving the sentence up to President Judge Nancy L. Butts. Ghayyada will serve 12 to 54 months in state prison with credit for time he served while awaiting trial and three years of probation for terroristic threats, criminal tresspassing, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and four charges of simple assault.
Butts also told the court she felt the state prison sentence gave the family distance away from Ghayyada, which had been a concern of the family in their written responses to the court.
Ghayyada's defense attorneys, David Lehman and Raj Sandher, told the court that Ghayyada initially went to the home of his ex-wife, who he had not seen in three years, after trying to re-establish a court order that allowed him visitation hours with his children at a nearby park.
Two of Ghayyada's cousins were called to speak about his character, stating how he missed his children and spoke of the days leading up to the assault positively, even inviting his cousin to come with him to see his kids.
"He said, let's go see your cousins," Ghayyada's 16-year-old cousin said, telling the court he had no idea that the meeting would turn sour.
As Ghayyada began yelling at the victim, his cousin told the court he watched from across the street.
Ghayyada's ex-wife spoke to the court about his continued abuse and how the home invasion has affected her family.
"This is not the first time he's threatened to kill me," she said, also writing in a response to the court. "We are scared in our own house. I feel that if he is out of prison he will kill me or kidnap my children and kill me."
During the hearing, Lehman argued that although the crime was harsh, the best action would be not to give the defendant a prison sentence, which could allow him to finish his rotations at a hospital in Chicago to be a medical doctor. By finishing his rotations, Lehman argued that Ghayyada would be more capable of paying child support, which he has been behind on since the couple split in 2014.
"I thought the court could fashion a sentence that would satisfy the victims and let him get his medical license, it was only a year away," Lehman commented after the sentencing. "This will drastically change the income that was coming into the family."
Ruby agreed to the length of the sentence, saying that he felt a minimum of a year in a state facility was appropriate.