In 2014, gospel singer James Fortune was arrested and booked on charges of aggravated assault of a family member. At the time, little information was released about the incident, but it wasn’t Fortune's first run-in with the law. In 2003, Fortune pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child regarding a 2001 incident in which he burned his 4-year-old stepson with boiling water.
According to ABC13, the 2014 incident involved Fortune and his wife, Cheryl. Fortune pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaulting his wife during the incident in which he hit her with a wooden stool, kicked her and threw her against a wall, ABC13 reports.
As part of Fortune’s plea deal, he was sentenced to five years’ probation and five days in jail. He’ll also have to complete 175 hours of community service and a “batterer’s intervention,” and he’s agreed to stay away from his wife.
Cheryl Fortune issued a victim’s statement that read: “I hope in all of this you get help. Serious help. Although this probation might be like a slap on the wrist, I hope you look at it as a moment to better yourself and change something within you for your future.”