Port Townsend man gets six years in prison for choking ex-girlfriend

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A Port Townsend man was sentenced to more than six years in prison for breaking into his former girlfriend’s home and attacking her.

Justin Ryan Boden, 44, accepted a plea deal from prosecutors and pleaded guilty to two felony charges Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court.

Boden made an Alford plea, in which he did not admit his guilt to the crimes but agreed that a jury would likely find him guilty at trial.

Following the recommendations set out in the plea agreement, Superior Court Judge Keith Harper sentenced Boden to 73.5 months for residential burglary and 55.5 months for third-degree assault (domestic violence).

Harper also signed a 10-year no-contact order between Boden and the victim.

Boden was arrested around 3 a.m. Friday, March 25 after a domestic violence assault was reported at a Port Townsend home. 

The victim told police she had dated Boden for about six months before their relationship ended, but Boden was still living in a storage shed on the property.

Authorities said Boden used a ladder to climb through a window to get into his ex-girlfriend’s bedroom. She had been talking on the phone with a friend when Boden punched her and started choking her.

Boden had originally been charged with second-degree assault and in the plea arrangement, that charge was reduced to third-degree assault.

The judge noted the standard sentencing range on the burglary charge was 63 months to 84 months in prison and a $20,000 fine.

For third-degree assault, the standard sentencing range was 51 to 60 months and a $10,000 fine.

Lillian Powers, Boden’s court-appointed attorney, noted that Boden also had a reduced-time criminal judgment against him in King County that would likely be revoked due to his new convictions.

Powers said Boden is anticipating that he will also have another 36 months in prison from the King County case.

Powers said the plea agreement was “hotly negotiated” and the version of events set out by prosecutors would have been challenged at trial. 

But she added that Boden recognized he had a history of domestic violence and was getting help on his substance-abuse and behavioral issues.

Boden read a written statement before he was sentenced.

“I’ve got a long criminal history,” Boden said, adding that “quite a few of them” were on similar charges between him and the mother of his children.

Both of them had been jailed multiple times on domestic violence charges, he said.

“My drinking got out of hand. Neither one of us were doing well with our addictions and everything,” he said.

Two other times, Boden continued, he found himself in prison on domestic violence assault convictions.

“My actions are very unexcusable one way or the other,” he said.

Boden recalled being sober from alcohol for 10 years before his latest arrest.

He was very serious about his recovery, Boden told the judge, and said his mistakes will make him miss vast amounts of his children’s lives.

“I’ll miss both of them graduating high school,” Boden said, but added he had been speaking to his children about addiction.

He also said he would try to better himself while incarcerated with whatever’s available in prison.

“Hopefully I will come out a better man, a proper father,” he said.

Boden also thanked the staff at Believe in Recovery and apologized to anyone in his past he may have harmed physically, mentally, or verbally.