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ALPENA -- A man who admitted to walking into a home while drunk and injuring the resident received little sympathy from the court when he promised the home invasion would be his last offense.
Aaron Bensman, 39, in October pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree home invasion and assault and battery related to an October 2020 incident in which he entered the home of a woman he knew and pulled her to him, exacerbating a previous injury.
The court in October dismissed a sexual assault charge against Bensman relating to alleged groping of the woman on the same occasion.
Bensman on Monday asked Judge Ed Black in Alpena's 26th Circuit Court for leniency in sentencing, saying a stint in prison on other charges had taught him to walk the straight and narrow.
Black, citing Bensman's extensive court record and that the home invasion happened while Bensman was free on bond related to other charges, said only attorney Bill Pfeifer's well-articulated arguments keep him from sentencing at the top of the guidelines.
Black sentenced Bensman to 30 months in prison for the home invasion, acknowledging that Bensman's promises could, with effort, prove true, despite his record.
"Something keeps pulling you back in," Black said. "I hope you beat it."
Bensman is currently housed in the Muskegon Correctional Facility on unrelated drug and assault charges out of Alpena County.