photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A man was sentenced to just over three years in prison on Monday as part of a plea agreement that resolved charges for attempted murder and battery on a law enforcement officer.

Dimas Alberto Bencomo-Bustamante, 36, was charged with one felony count of attempted murder for allegedly stabbing a coworker four times on Jan. 31, 2023, and one felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer for allegedly punching a Douglas County corrections officer in the face while in custody in April 2023.

Judge Stacey Donovan sentenced Bencomo-Bustamante to 38 months in prison on the battery charge in accordance with a plea agreement negotiated by the state, represented by Deputy District Attorney David Greenwald, and Bencomo-Bustamante’s attorney, John Kerns.

As the Journal-World previously reported, Bencomo-Bustamante had been ordered to stand trial on the attempted murder charge in March of 2024 after the victim testified that Bencomo-Bustamante had stabbed him in the chest and arm without provocation. That charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, according to court records.

If Bencomo-Bustamante had been convicted of the attempted murder charge, he could have faced up to 20 years in prison depending on his criminal history.

While Bencomo-Bustamante was in custody he was ordered to Osawatomie State Hospital after being declared incompetent for trial. Donovan said that she believed Bencomo-Bustamante’s mental health struggles were the reason the state had negotiated the plea agreement.

“Stay on top of your mental health issues so you do not find yourself back before the court,” Donovan said.

She awarded Bencomo-Bustamante 610 days, about 20 months, of time served in jail starting from the day he was charged with battering the officer. He has been in custody in the attempted murder case since his arrest in January 2023. Donovan said he would be eligible for 15% of good time while in prison. If the Kansas Department of Correction were to award Bencomo-Bustamante good time on his entire sentence, it could reduce it by about six months.

Bencomo-Bustamante declined to speak during the hearing, but afterward he asked Kerns, through a Spanish-language interpreter, what that meant for the remaining time. Kerns said he wasn’t sure of the math but he knew that at least the 20 months would be subtracted from the 38-month sentence, leaving 18 months in prison.

When Bencomo-Bustamante was arrested on the attempted murder charge, he did not have an official address listed on the Douglas County jail’s booking log. His alleged victim testified that Bencomo-Bustamante had arrived about a week prior to the alleged incident and that the two of them were living in temporary housing and were employed by the same Lawrence area construction company. Before Bencomo-Bustamante was sentenced, he had asked the court for a furlough to attend his mother’s funeral in Colorado Springs, Colorado. That furlough was denied but Bencomo-Bustamante was permitted to attend via video conference, according to court records.