A Hudson Valley man nearly killed one person at a party to celebrate a recently elected Hudson Valley politician.

On Friday in Ulster County Court, 26-year-old Jovan A. Wilkins of Lagrangeville was sentenced to 18 years in prison following a guilty verdict in his assault trial.

Proof at trial revealed Wilkins stabbed an unarmed 26-year-old man at least nine times, with seven of those wounds to the victim’s back, according to the Ulster County District Attoryn's Office.

During the week-long trial, jurors heard testimony from surgeon Dr. Dennis-Roger Phillip of the Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital, forensic scientists Sarah Koss and Lisa Sheridan of the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center, as well as several investigators with the New York State Police.

They also heard from the victim of the assault and an eyewitness who testified that as they were leaving the party, they saw someone being beaten and stomped. The stabbing victim was repeatedly stabbed in the back and lower abdomen by Wilkins as the victim tried to push people off the person who was being attacked, officials say.

Dr. Phillip told the jury that many of the stab wounds could have been fatal. He said one stab punctured the victim’s lung, a second lacerated his spleen and that the wounds to the victim’s abdomen in effect disemboweled him.

Wilkin was arrested in December 2017 in connection with the stabbing of a man during a house party celebrating then-recently elected Dutchess County legislator Giancarlo Llaverias’ victory.

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