NKY man pardoned by Matt Bevin sentenced to 5 years in jail for strangulation charge

COVINGTON, Ky. (WXIX) - A man who was pardoned by former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin in 2019 was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for fourth-degree strangulation.

Nearly three years ago, Joheim Bandy was in jail after he was convicted of assault and robbery.

Initially, Bandy was sentenced to 13 years; however, in a move that surprised Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders, then Kentucky governor Bevin pardoned him after only serving one year in prison.

“He hadn’t had nearly enough rehabilitation to give me any confidence whatsoever that he had turned his life around like Governor Bevin opined in the pardon,” Sanders explained.

Not long after Bandy was released, he was named in numerous reports alleging he was choking women in the neighborhood, according to Sanders.

“They were coming in faster than they could find him,” says Sanders.

Police arrested Bandy after a City Heights resident called the police and told them she was watching him attack a young mother.

“She observed Mr. Bandy holding her neighbor by the hair and punching her in the face,” according to Kenton County commonwealth attorney.

Sanders says the young woman was on the phone with her mother when Bandy attacked her.

“Hearing her daughter getting assaulted and hearing her daughter crying for help, screaming, ‘help, he’s choking me,’” explained Sanders.

In December, Bandy was found guilty of the strangulation and briefly appeared in court Tuesday for sentencing.

The judge sentenced him to seven years in prison, five for the strangulation charge, and a year each for a charge of assault and criminal mischief.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2023 WXIX. All rights reserved.