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A Joplin man who was facing a felony weapon charge pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser offense and was assessed a suspended sentence.
David M. Fennewald, 29, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault at a hearing in Jasper County Circuit Court in a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office. He had been facing a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly threatening a woman with a knife on June 5 at his home in the 2200 block of South Moffet Avenue.
Associate Judge Richard Copeland accepted the plea deal and assessed Fennewald a year in jail, with execution of the sentence suspended and the defendant placed on unsupervised probation for one year. The judge ordered the defendant to submit to a psychiatric evaluation and to complete any recommended counseling or treatment.