A Santa Maria man accused of stabbing his roommate during an argument earlier this month pleaded no contest Wednesday to a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon.

Carlos Reyes Salgado, 49, was initially also charged with attempted murder and a special allegation of great bodily injury in the stabbing of Jesus Velasco Rosales of Santa Maria.

However, as a condition of his plea agreement, the attempted murder count and the special allegation were dismissed.

Salgado is set to return to Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria Dec. 26 for sentencing.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Lynn Cutler, the prosecutor on the case, said that Salgado will be sentenced to one year in county jail and five years probation.

If Salgado had been convicted of the original two counts and special allegation, he would have received a significantly stiffer punishment, which would have included prison time, Cutler said.

The plea counts as a strike under the state's three-strikes law, and should Salgado be convicted of another felony, he could face a stricter punishment than he would otherwise.

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Santa Maria police responded Nov. 3 to a report of a fight between roommates in the 600 block of West Williams Street in Santa Maria. They found that Rosales had been stabbed. He was treated at Marian Medical Center for a single stab wound to the upper chest, and the suspect, Salgado, was also treated at the hospital before he was taken to jail.

“We got a total lack of cooperation from the victim,” Cutler said.

In court Wednesday, Salgado's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Marian Amsbaugh, noted that her client was hard of hearing because of a broken eardrum from that altercation.

She could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com.

November 29, 2007