Bemidji man sentenced to 10 years in prison for stabbing, property damage
Jan. 11—BEMIDJI — A 29-year-old Bemidji man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stabbing a man and damaging vehicles at Bemidji's Grass Lake Mobile Home Park in May.
According to a release from Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson, Beaulieu has been sentenced for two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of criminal property damage.
The sentencing comes after the events of May 7, 2023, when Beltrami County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a report of a stabbing at the Grass Lake Mobile Home Park near Bemidji. Upon arrival at the scene, law enforcement found a man who had been stabbed in the face and witnesses identified then 28-year-old Joshua Lee Beaulieu as the suspect.
After an investigation, law enforcement learned that Beaulieu had also chased another victim with a knife and damaged a vehicle with a baseball bat, the release said.
The man who was stabbed in the face told law enforcement that Beaulieu had asked him to borrow his vehicle. The victim said that he did not let Beaulieu use his vehicle due to Beaulieu's drinking and Beaulieu then became angry and stabbed him in the face, the release said.
Assistant Beltrami County Attorney Michael Mahlen conducted a four-day jury trial in December, with the attorney's office seeking a statutory maximum sentence for Beaulieu due to his prior convictions for assaultive behavior.
Beaulieu's prior convictions include first-degree aggravated robbery in 2014, felony domestic assault in 2019, fifth-degree assault in 2020 and misdemeanor domestic assault in 2021, according to court documents.
"The jury heard evidence of Beaulieu's assaultive history and the fact that the assault took place in front of the victim's child," the release said. "The jury agreed with the county attorney's office to allow the judge to sentence Beaulieu outside of the Minnesota sentencing guidelines."
Beaulieu was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 9, to 120 months in prison.
"(I send my) sympathy to the victims in this case," Hanson said in the release. "(I) would like to thank all of the hard-working members of the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office who responded to and investigated this crime, as well as the Bemidji Police Department, Minnesota State Patrol and Minnesota conservation officers, who assisted in the investigation.
"(I) would also like to thank all of the staff of the Beltrami County Attorney's office who put in many hours on this matter, specifically, Assistant County Attorney Michael Mahlen and Victim Services Coordinator Riley Irish."
