Joshua Kumferman sentenced to 30 days for strangling girlfriend
Joshua James Kumferman, 31, Minot, was ordered on Thursday to serve 30 days in the Ward County Jail for assaulting his girlfriend May 22.
The state dismissed charges connected with two other domestic violence incidents under the terms of a plea deal.
Kumferman pleaded guilty to charges connected with an incident on May 22. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Kumferman strangled his girlfriend and interfered when she tried to make an emergency phone call. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, the woman had red marks all around her neck and red dots on the right side of her neck after the incident. The woman told police that Kumferman grabbed her and pinned her up against the wall so that her feet were not touching the ground. At one point the woman lost consciousness. She said Kumferman held her that way for about five minutes. She told police that at one point while she was being strangled she grabbed her cell phone from her back pocket and was trying to dial 911, but Kumferman took the phone away from her and threw it in the back yard. She kicked Kumferman in the groin and he let her go and she was able to go to a neighbor’s house.
Court records show that Judge Stacy Louser sentenced him to 360 days in jail, all suspended but the 30 days, and three years supervised probation on one of the Class C felonies. He was given credit for one day already served in the Ward County Jail. He received concurrent sentences on another Class C felony and one Class A misdemeanor. The two Class C felonies will be reduced to Class A misdemeanors if he successfully completes probation.
Louser also ordered Kumferman to complete an evaluation for domestic violence offenders and to follow through on recommended treatment, to have no contact with the victim and to pay court costs.
Kumferman also pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended driver’s license, a Class B misdemeanor, and was sentenced to four days in jail, concurrent with another sentence, and to pay $350 in court costs.
On May 6, according to court documents, Kumferman had been accused of arguing with his girlfriend while holding a knife in his hand and of cutting her across the palm when she took the knife away from him. On June 28, Kumferman allegedly violated an order prohibiting him from having contact with the woman. She reportedly came home to find him sleeping in her residence, they argued and he took her phone and threw it in the yard when she tried to call for help, according to court documents. Charges in both of those cases have been dismissed.