Longmont resident Reo Contreras was sentenced to 24 years in prison Monday for violently assaulting his girlfriend in 2018, the 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.
Contreras, 39, beat and strangled his girlfriend and mother of his child in October 2018, the district attorney’s office said.
The victim suffered a dissected carotid artery and faced “a substantial risk of death,” the DA’s office said.
“Strangulation is one of, if not the, most violent and brutal forms of assault,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Ryan Day said. “Research shows that it often precedes homicide in the domestic violence context.”
This was the third time Contreras had strangled the victim since March 2018, only weeks after being convicted of a previous assault and sentenced to domestic violence treatment.
The victim’s friend reported the October assault to police against her wishes.
Contreras pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and received a sentence of 24 years in the Department of Corrections.
“The victim is fortunate to be alive. This sentence is what justice required, particularly given the prior assaults,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “This strangulation case illustrates how dangerous domestic violence can be and why it is a top priority for our office.”
Contreras was convicted of felony assault in September 2018 for assaulting the same victim. During the October assault, he was legally restrained from being around the woman and her child.
In addition to three domestic violence-related convictions, Contreras has previous convictions for possession of a controlled substance, felony menacing and violating a protective order.
Sign Up For Free: AM Update Newsletter
let pathVariable;
let pathVariable2;
function handleUrlPathSegment() {
const fullPath = window.location.pathname.toLowerCase();
if (fullPath.includes(‘/business/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘business’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Business Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/outdoors/’) || fullPath.includes(‘/outdoor/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘outdoors’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Outdoors Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/opinion/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘opinion’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Opinion Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘politics’)) {
pathVariable = ‘politics’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Politics Newsletter’;
} else {
pathVariable = ‘am-update’;
pathVariable2 = ‘AM Update Newsletter’;
}
console.log(`Current path: ${fullPath}`);
console.log(`Path variable set to: ${pathVariable}`);
console.log(`Path variable 2 set to: ${pathVariable2}`);
applyNewsletterName(pathVariable2);
return { pathVariable, pathVariable2 };
}
function applyNewsletterName(newsletterName) {
if (document.readyState === ‘loading’) {
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
});
} else {
updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
}
}
function updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName) {
const newsletterElement = document.getElementById(‘newsletterName’);
if (newsletterElement) {
newsletterElement.textContent = newsletterName;
console.log(`Updated #newsletterName element with: ${newsletterName}`);
} else {
console.warn(‘Element with ID #newsletterName not found in the DOM’);
}
}
function setupFormSubmitListener() {
function getFormattedDate() {
const now = new Date();
const timestamp = now.getTime();
console.log(‘chris: Using Unix timestamp’);
console.log(‘chris: Current time:’, now);
console.log(‘chris: Unix timestamp (ms):’, timestamp);
return timestamp;
}
const formattedDate = getFormattedDate();
var profile = window.blueConicClient.profile.getProfile();
profile.setValues(‘newsletter_category’, pathVariable);
profile.setValue(‘newsletter_signup_date’, formattedDate);
window.blueConicClient.profile.updateProfile(this, function() {
});
}
handleUrlPathSegment();
Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
function subscribeSuccess() {
var nsltrform = document.querySelector(“#nsltr”);
var nsltrSuccess = document.querySelector(“#successnsltr”);
nsltrform.classList.add(“hideblock”);
nsltrSuccess.classList.remove(“hideblock”);
}
function validateEmail(email) {
return String(email)
.toLowerCase()
.match(
/^(([^()[].,;:s@”]+(.[^()[].,;:s@”]+)*)|(“.+”))@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))$/
);
}
function validateEmailAddress() {
const result = document.querySelector(“#result”);
const email = document.querySelector(“#email”).value;
result.innerText = “”;
if(validateEmail(email)) {
newsletterSubscribe(email);
} else {
result.innerText = ‘The email entered: ‘ + email + ‘ is not valid :(‘;
result.style.color = “red”;
}
return false;
}
function newsletterSubscribe(email) {
fetch(“https://services.gazette.com/mg2-newsletters.php?action=subscribe&site=denvergazette.com&emailPreferenceId=69&email=” + email, {
method: “POST”
}).then(res => {
console.log(“SUCCESSFUL POST”);
subscribeSuccess();
});
}
#nsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: #2076b3;
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20weekly%207.png);
background-size: cover;
}
#nsltr-header {
color: #fff4f4;
}
#nsltr-body {
text-align: center;
color: #ffffff;
}
#nsltr-button {
margin-top: 5px;
}
#successnsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: green;
text-align: center;
color: white;
}
#successnsltr a {
color: white;
}
.hideblock {
display:none;
}
h6 a {
color: black;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 5px;
background-color: #bbccdd;
font-weight: 600;
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 768px) {
#nsltr {
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20weekly%207.png);
background-size: cover;
}
}