NASHUA – Attorneys in the first-degree assault case of former Nashua resident Joshua Fournier-DeJesus have come to an agreement that involves both prison time and a hefty restitution order.

DeJesus, 32, was accused of inflicting severe knife wounds to the head and ear of a 34-year-old man on a West Hollis Street sidewalk early on the morning of May 10, according to charging documents.

The agreement, accepted Wednesday by Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Delker, calls for DeJesus to serve three to seven years in State Prison, with 90 days of the minimum suspended. DeJesus was also credited for the 133 days he has already spent in jail, bringing his minimum sentence to roughly two years and seven months.

The suspension of the 90 days, meanwhile, is conditioned on DeJesus having no contact with the victim. The court also stated it “strongly recommends” to parole that there be no contact with the victim once DeJesus is released from prison.

The agreement also orders DeJesus to pay a significant restitution of just under $73,000 to the state Victims Compensation Fund, to be paid through the Department of Corrections as directed by his probation or parole officer.

The funds DeJesus pays in restitution will likely be used to offset the cost of medical treatment and related expenses the victim incurred as a result of the assault.

Police at first charged DeJesus with “punching, kicking and striking” the victim “with a knife,” but not with stabbing or slashing him, according to their reports at the time.

Roughly a week later, however, after obtaining and reviewing video from an onlooker’s cellphone and from security cameras on nearby buildings, prosecutors brought forward an amended first-degree assault charge, while adding two second-degree assault counts. That brought the total number of charges to five, as police had earlier charged DeJesus with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault.

During a subsequent court hearing, Assistant County Attorney Nicole Thorspecken argued that the videos showed enough evidence for a judge to find probable cause to sustain the first-degree assault charge.

The videos also supported the prosecution’s argument that because DeJesus was holding a knife when he punched the man, the knife struck the man in the head, causing a laceration, and also lacerated his ear, Thorspecken said.

“I don’t think it matters if it was ‘just a punch,’ because the knife went through his ear,” she said of the victim.

DeJesus “did that on purpose … I think that is (sufficient) probable cause. It is possible to punch someone and stab someone at the same time.”

In a nine-page sentencing memorandum presented during the hearing, prosecutors said police arrived to find a rather grisly scene at the corner of Main and West Hollis streets that morning.

Police “observed the victim … covered in blood, with an apparent head laceration … he had a large, deep laceration … from the top of his cheek to the rear of his head.

“His ear was cut in half and hanging from his head,” the memorandum states.

The knife DeJesus reportedly used actually belonged to the victim, who police said was carrying it in a sheath before the incident.

Prosecutors in the memorandum said DeJesus heckled the victim and pulled him to the ground as he tried to enter his apartment. While the victim lied on his back, DeJesus “paced back and forth … yelling” at the victim, then “postured himself over the victim and kicked him.”

DeJesus “then lunges and grabs the knife off the victim’s belt … (DeJesus) inspected the knife, then struck the victim in the head with the knife,” according to the memorandum.

Thorspecken, at the May hearing, rejected defense claims that DeJesus’ “alcohol problem” was to blame for his actions. While Thorspecken said she “understands he has an alcohol problem,” she disagreed that “alcohol alone caused his behavior that night.”

Prosecutors addressed that in the memorandum, stating that the “surveillance and cellphone videos do not show a drunken bar brawl.” Rather, these scenes depict the series of events prosecutors detailed previously.

In total, the evidence, especially that from the videos, “significantly mitigates (DeJesus’) argument that this violence was fueled by illegal substance use.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_DeanS.