An Evansville man was sentenced to 16 to 20 years imprisonment on Tuesday for kidnapping and assaulting a woman in April.

Jareb Stewart, 25, also was sentenced in a separate case to a five- to seven-year term for methamphetamine distribution, which will be served at the same time as the kidnapping sentence, Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking said.

Stewart pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping in August. He originally was charged with aggravated kidnapping.

The sentencing for kidnapping was combined with a separate case of methamphetamine conspiracy.

Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson said if his case had gone to trial and he was convicted, he would have received a minimum of 20 years imprisonment.

Johnson wanted the sentence for kidnapping to be 15 to 20 years, and to be served consecutively to the methamphetamine conspiracy case, but Wilking agreed with public defender Kurt Infanger that the sentences should be served concurrently.

While methamphetamine played a large role in these and other crimes committed by Stewart, Johnson said many drug users and dealers don't commit violent acts like he did.

Stewart's victim, who was a drug user herself and served jail time, wrote in a victim impact statement that she suffered physically and even more so mentally with post traumatic stress disorder, Johnson said. The victim wrote, "'I don't want to live like this anymore,'" he said.

Stewart apologized for his crimes. "No words can express how sorry I am."

The case began in late April when Evansville police responded to a call about a disturbance in the 200 block of Lathrop Road, and they later learned about the kidnapping.

Stewart, the victim and a witness were in the witness’ vehicle when he pulled a knife and began making threats of violence towards the others.

He forced the victim from the vehicle, put her in a choke-hold, and dragged her to a trailer while the witness escaped.

Stewart took her to a bedroom, bound her hands with zip ties, sat her in a chair, and hit her in the head with his rings..

Police later found them and took Stewart into custody.

The victim was taken to the hospital to be treated for her injuries.

Investigators observed a gash in the victim’s head and saw red marks on the victim’s wrists, which were caused by the zip ties.

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