Baker gets 10 years for probation violation

A 37-year-old man who pleaded guilty to assaulting three men in a Troy grocery store on Dec. 5, 2011, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday.

District Judge James B. Wheelis sentenced James Harlan Baker, IV for violating his probation.

According to County Attorney Bernard G. Cassidy’s motion, Baker violated probation by consuming drugs.

Baker, then of Troy, made three Alford pleas in relation to the 2011 incident for felony aggravated assault of Joseph G. Blata and two misdemeanor assaults of Blata’s sons, Seth Mills and Joey Blata. (An Alford plea is a guilty plea where one proclaims innocence but admits that the prosecution has enough evidence to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.)

According to a police report, Mills said Baker ran through Stein’s Market in Troy, punched his father, Joseph Blata, in the face and threw him down. Joseph Blata said that his hip was fractured and briefly lost consciousness. Mills said he tried to hold Baker down and Baker tried to punch him. Mills said that Kelly Pease grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him off Baker and hit him in the back.

Joey Blata said that Pease grabbed him, scratched his back, pulled his hair and choked him.

Two misdemeanor assault charges and one for disorderly conduct against Pease were dismissed by Troy City Court on June 20, 2012.

Baker still owes $52,084 in restitution and is homeless, court documents state.

Baker was found guilty of misdemeanor false imprisonment and theft in Idaho in December, according to court documents.