A Fairbury man who was already serving time for an assault charge was sentenced to a year in prison on a separate assault charge in Jefferson County District Court this week.

31-year-old Lynn Vieselmeyer-Scheets was originally arrested and charged with 1st degree sexual assault last Halloween, but accepted a plea deal to have that charge reduced to misdemeanor assault in July.

His sentencing was delayed a week due to a debate over time served, a matter complicated by a previous conviction for March 2023 assault by strangulation, a Class 3A Felony that dealt him an 18-month sentence in the Nebraska Department of Corrections with a further 18-month period of post-release supervision.

He had previously been sentenced in that case in October 2023, was released from the Department of Corrections in April 2024, but then reportedly violated the terms of his probation in September before his post-release supervision was revoked in late October. Halloween came one week later. 

"He's disappointed, but he accepts responsibility for his actions on that day," defense attorney Ben Murray said Thursday, adding that Vieselmeyer-Scheets has plans to move to Iowa as soon as he's able. "We would ask for a sentence of time served, or a minimal sentence above that so that he can continue with his plans, and continue the steps he's made towards improving his life."

Judge David Bargen sentenced him to a year in jail, a sentence concurrent with his other one, saying that "the risk is substantial that during a period of probation the offender would engage in additional criminal conduct and a lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime."

Vieselmeyer-Scheets could be eligible for release at the end of January.