A 19-year-old Taneytown man could be sentenced to 10 years in prison for stabbing a man with a pocketknife in December, according to a plea agreement reached yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court.
William Paul Diebel of the 3900 block of Sells Mill Road entered an Alford plea, meaning he did not admit guilt, but agreed it was in his best interest to enter a guilty plea because the state had enough evidence to convict him of first-degree assault.
In return, prosecutor David P. Daggett agreed to ask for no more than a 10-year prison term. Diebel is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. on July 27.
In the statement of facts, Daggett said Diebel was with three men Dec. 21 when a fight broke out at a Taneytown gas station on East Baltimore Street.
During the fight, Diebel pulled a knife and stabbed Gerald Blair, who received treatment for two severe puncture wounds.
Confronted by police soon after the incident at 9:30 p.m., Diebel cooperated, telling officers they could find the knife hidden behind a shed at the rear of his home, Daggett said.