PORTLAND – A Portland man who used a baseball bat in an attack last year that left a Standish man with a brain injury and hospitalized that man’s brother was sentenced Friday to serve eight years in prison followed by a four-year probation term.
Peter Tracy, 24, who has been in custody since his arrest on April 6, 2012, pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement last week in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court to elevated aggravated assault for the life-threatening blows to Ryan Wescott’s head and aggravated assault on Shane Wescott.
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Justice Thomas Warren imposed an agreed-upon 23-year sentence, with all but eight years suspended. He also ordered Tracy to pay $5,000 restitution.
Ryan Wescott, 30, used a cane to reach the court podium at the sentencing hearing and spoke in a thick voice.
“The incident not only affected me, it affected my family and my loved ones,” he said with his girlfriend beside him. “I am blessed with a girlfriend and family of unconditional love.”
His mother, Cindy Wescott, spoke next, turning directly to speak to Tracy.
“I will never forget the horrible thing you did to my son,” she said.
Cindy Wescott said that when Ryan awoke from his coma, “he had to start all over learning to speak and walk.”
Witnesses said there had been tensions between Tracy and the Wescotts because Shane Wescott, 26, was dating Tracy’s ex-girlfriend, with whom Tracy has a child, according to an incident report from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
After a series of exchanges, Tracy and another man drove to Shane Wescott’s home at Pine Tree Estates on Holiday Lane in Standish and got into what the judge described as a “melee or series of fights” that ended with the Wescott brothers down and defenseless.
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Bud Ellis, said that after the fight Tracy used the baseball bat to strike Ryan Wescott repeatedly and also strike Shane Wescott, but less seriously.
“What Mr. Tracy did was absolutely unnecessary. Both of the Wescotts were defenseless at that point.” said Warren, the judge.
Tracy’s attorney, Sarah Churchill, said the reason he wanted to plead guilty was to ensure that he will eventually have a role in his son’s life.
Churchill said that by her calculations, Tracy could get out of prison in 5 1/2 years, counting time he has already served and if he gets credit for good behavior in prison.
Scott Dolan can be contacted at: 791-6304 or at
sdolan@mainetoday.com
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