Bozeman man sentenced for stabbing mother
A 45-year-old Bozeman man was freed from jail Monday after serving 131 days there for stabbing his mother in the leg while drunk last year.
Instead, Gallatin County District Judge Mike Salvagni sentenced Alexander Scott Sawicki to a four-year suspended sentence and ordered him to regularly attend a community support group like Alcoholics Anonymous for at least a year.
The suspended sentence comes as a result of the plea agreement reducing Sawicki’s charge from felony assault with a weapon to the lesser felony of criminal endangerment.
According to court documents, Sawicki and his mother had been fighting all day on Oct. 31 about him taking out the garbage. He had been drinking and didn’t want to drive three miles to a Dumpster. A more intense fight ensued, and the mother suffered non-life-threatening stab wounds to her leg and side.
In court Monday, the judge gave Sawicki permission to address his mother, who had written to Salvagni in support of her son.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said, his eyes glassy as he faced the gallery.
“I know you didn’t,” she replied.
“I know this is a lifelong process,” Sawicki continued, after Salvagni admonished the two saying he didn’t want a conversation. “It feels great to be clean and sober. It hurts me to know that I hurt my mom.”
Though Salvagni agreed with the sentencing recommendation, he warned Sawicki that it was partly because his mother relies on his help.
“You have a bad, bad, bad, bad, very bad alcohol problem,” Salvagni said. “You’re sober because you’ve been in jail. When you walk out of jail today, nothing has changed. You could walk into a bar. You’re a person who cannot drink alcohol. If it weren’t for your mother, I might have a different opinion about this case.”
Jodi Hausen can be reached at jhausen@dailychronicle.com or 582-2630. Follow her on Twitter @JodiHausen.
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