Pennington County, SD – Thursday, 28-year-old Dakota Jolley was sentenced to a total of 30 years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary following an Alford guilty plea to three counts of Aggravated Assault (Domestic Violence) stemming from multiple violent attacks against his significant other. The assaults occurred on separate dates and included two incidents of strangulation and one instance in which Jolley pointed a loaded handgun at the victim while she was holding a young child.  An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his claim of innocence while acknowledging that the State’s evidence would likely result in a conviction.

Seventh Circuit Judge Matthew Brown sentenced Jolley to:

  *   Count 1: 15 years in the penitentiary
  *   Count 2: 15 years in the penitentiary (consecutive to Count 1)
  *   Count 3: 5 years in the penitentiary (concurrent to Count 2)

Video evidence documenting portions of the abuse was submitted to the court as part of the presentence investigation. The victim reported that even their young child remembers these traumatic events.

Senior Deputy State’s Attorney Alexa Moeller urged the Court to impose a lengthy penitentiary sentence, noting the terrifying and life-threatening violence inflicted on the victim. “The repeated, brutal attacks in this case make clear how close this victim came to being seriously injured or killed,” Senior Deputy State’s Attorney Alexa Moeller said during her sentencing argument.

Aggravated Assault is a class 3 felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

Jolley also received a ten-year prison sentence in the federal court system for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person.

This case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy State’s Attorney Alexa Moeller.