Ludington man sentenced to prison for assault. 

Brian Keith Blackburn

Ludington man sentenced to prison for assault. 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

LUDINGTON — A 32-year-old Ludington man was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison today, Tuesday, May 10, in 51st Circuit Court. 

On March 22, 2022, Brian Keith Blackburn admitted to assaulting a 35-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy in the 400 block of South Harrison Street last November. He has been convicted on assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, habitual offender – third conviction (40 months to 20 years imprisonment) and attempted assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder (40 months to 10 years). The sentences run concurrent and he was given credit for 184 days served in jail. 

“The defendant did grab ahold of (the boy) around the neck and strangled him,” said Judge Susan K. Sniegowski in a previous hearing. “(The woman) stepped in between to stop him and they started fighting. He grabbed her around the neck and threw her down on the floor.”

One count of assault by strangulation and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon will be dismissed in exchange for his plea.

Blackburn’s attorney Ashley Siegel said her client entered a “no contest” plea due to lack of memory caused by intoxication.

The woman had red marks around her neck and face, said Ludington Police Department Cpt. Steve Wietrzykowski, and the boy suffered a cut to his hand. Blackburn had scratches on his back and arms and a cut to his finger. He was treated in the emergency room at Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital prior to being lodged in jail.

At the request of the female victim, Sniegowski lifted the no contact order she had against Blackburn. However, the judge said she will continue the no contact order with the minor children involved in the case. 

The woman and boy did not seek medical treatment.

Blackburn was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison in 2014 for driving drunk through a grocery store parking lot and striking a pedestrian — local teacher Scott Dumas — and then driving away from the crime scene. In 2019, he was ordered to serve three months up front of a one-year discretionary jail term for pulling the keys out of the ignition of his girlfriend’s car and resisting arrest.

Allison Scarbrough contributed to this story.

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