Cedar Rapids man sentenced to 15 years for domestic assault

Mar. 8, 2021 1:40 pm, Updated: Mar. 8, 2021 2:04 pm

CEDAR RAPIDS - A 30-year-old Cedar Rapids man was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison for choking a woman as she returned home from filing a previous assault report against him.

Trial started March 1 for Antonio Lenn Buchanan. But after a jury was selected, he accepted a plea agreement from the prosecution.

Buchanan, appearing by video, pleaded last Tuesday to two counts of assault causing bodily injury (domestic abuse and strangulation) as a habitual offender.

According to a criminal complaint, a woman who has lived with him told police he assaulted her May 6, 2020, at her residence in Cedar Rapids. She had just returned home from making a police report regarding a similar assault when she encountered Buchanan at her apartment, according to the complaint.

The woman said Buchanan tried to choke her and dragged her down a flight of stairs, injuring her arm, the complaint stated.

Buchanan previously was convicted of domestic assault against another woman in 2019, according to court records. He also choked and injured her.

Court documents show Buchanan also has convictions of possession with intent to distribute marijuana in 2019 and furnishing contraband to an inmate in 2017.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Sean McPartland sentenced Buchanan to 15 years on each count, which will run concurrently. Each charge was a Class D felony, for which punishment usually is five years in prison. But those penalties were enhanced because of his previous convictions.

Buchanan must serve a mandatory minimum of three years on each count before being eligible for parole.