On Friday afternoon in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction L-R Heath Laware and Brent Jenkins wait to be arraigned on charges of kidnap­ping, assault and other charges. (Valley News / Jennifer Hauck) A Bethel man was sentenced to prison this past week in Windsor District Court for his part in a vio­lent home invasion in White River Junction.

Brent Jenkins, 29, accompan­ied a friend on the home invasion last August, during which, police say, they beat down a White River Junction resident in his apartment and threatened to slice off his fin­gers with a machete if he didn’t give them cash.

Jenkins pled guilty to felony as­sault and robbery with injury re­sulting, as part of an agreement that saw the state dismiss his other pending charges.

Jenkins received an overall sen­tence of 15-to-18 years with all but eight years suspended; however, he was also immediately placed on probation while behind bars.

“I think spending the better part of a decade in prison is not a light sentence,” Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney David Cahill said af­ter the hearing concluded. He noted that Jenkins’ chances of actually be­ing released at the end of those eight years are contingent on his ability to refrain from “violent and threatening behavior” under the terms of his pro­bation while he’s incarcerated, some­thing Cahill suggested Jenkins has already had some problems doing.

The resolution of Jenkins’ case clears the way for the state to con­centrate on their remaining prosecu­tion against South Royalton resident Heath Laware, 31. He faces felony counts of kidnapping, assault and robbery with injury, burglary of an occupied dwelling, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, grand larceny, and operating the getaway vehicle without the owner’s consent in connection with the at­tack on 56-year-old Al Livingstone.

Livingstone was kicked repeatedly in the chest to the point where doc­tors later told him his heart had been bruised and they were worried about him potentially suffering seizures in the wake of the assault.

Laware, who was also charged as a habitual offender because of his four previous felony convictions, faces a potential penalty of up to life in prison on each of the eight felo­nies he is currently facing, “plus 95 years” under the redundant math of Vermont’s habitual offender statute.