Student sentenced for assault charges

College senior Bryce LeFort was sentenced to two years of probation yesterday for his involvement in the Oct. 5 attack of College senior Andrew Scharf with a beer bottle.

At a remanded trial hearing, LeFort pled guilty to misdemeanor simple assault and reckless endangerment charges.

Philadelphia lower-court judge Lydia Kirkland approved the sentencing agreement reached between Lefort and Scharf, whose right ear was permanently damaged due to the incident.

In addition to the probation, Lefort will also have to fulfill certain conditions stipulated by a prior plea agreement between the two parties, which Scharf said includes mandatory anger management classes as well as 100 hours of community service.

Scharf - who is still likely to have further medical procedures to fix his ear - noted that as part of the agreement LeFort will also be forced to pay for any medical damages incurred by Scharf.

"He has to make full restitution for past and continuing medical expenses related to the treatment of my ear on behalf of me and my family," Scharf said.

Scharf said that he was pleased with the agreement, but added that he still has a long way to go in the recovery process.

"The only part that is really over is the criminal hearing," he said. "I still have several risky procedures to undergo to [hopefuly] fix my ear. But . the results [of the hearing] really speak for themselves."

LeFort did not return calls for comment.

The incident, which originally occurred at the Copabanana located at the intersection of 40th and Spruce streets, involved Scharf, LeFort and Wharton senior Stephen Lande, who allegedly punched Scharf in the face.

LeFort and Lande were originally arrested on Oct. 10 and 11, respectively, and charged with felony charges, including aggravated assault and engaging in criminal conspiracy against Scharf.

But at a Dec. 6 preliminary hearing, Scharf's defense withdrew the charges against Lande and reduced the charges against LeFort to the simple assault and related charges.

Aggravated-assault charges could have resulted in over 10 years in prison and $50,000 in fines for LeFort and Lande. The lesser charge of simple assault could have resulted in a maximum of six months in prison and a fine of $500.

Details of the incident are not completely known, though Scharf has maintained that the alleged attack upon himself was not provoked.

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