A Delaware woman pleaded guilty Thursday morning to a count of felonious assault after breaking the finger of a Delaware County Sheriff’s deputy and spitting in his face while she had hepatitis in March.
Crystal Gail Farley, 36, of 317 Chelsea Street Apt. B, Delaware, appeared in Delaware County Common Pleas Court for a change of plea hearing after she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
At the hearing, Assistant County Prosecutor Andrew Bigler, detailed the plea agreement and said Farley would plead guilty to a count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony and one count of harassment by an inmate, a fifth-degree felony.
Two counts of assault, fourth-degree felonies; one count of resisting arrest, a first-degree misdemeanor and one count of criminal damaging, a second-degree misdemeanor were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Farley said that on March 2 she appeared in Delaware Municipal Court for a probation violation and was sentenced to seven days in jail. Farley said Thursday that on March 2 she was really upset, on drugs and didn’t want to go to jail and then became resistant to being taken to jail.
Farley said deputies had to carry her out of the courthouse and during the struggle she said she spat in the face of Deputy Jack Daniels. She said that her struggling also caused Daniels to fall, breaking his finger.
“I didn’t intend for any of it to happen,” Farley said. “I wasn’t in my right mind.”
At the arraignment, Bigler said that Farley knew she was a carrier for hepatitis when she spat in Deputy Daniels’ face. However, at the change of plea hearing, Farley’s attorney Jeffrey Burkham said that Farley wasn’t aware that she had hepatitis.
The sheriff’s office reported in March that Daniels had been treated for his injuries. Bigler said Thursday that Daniels’ finger was broken so badly that he had to have pins put in it.
Court documents indicate that the parties did not make an agreement on sentencing. Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David Gormley said Thursday that Farley faces between two and eight years in prison for the felonious assault charge and up to a year in prison for the harassment by inmate charge.
After accepting Farley’s guilty plea Gormley ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 10 at 9 a.m.
Farley was out on bond Thursday afternoon.
