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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A man who was featured in a Sundance documentary about Polynesian high school football players has been sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend.
The Standard-Examiner of Ogden reports (http://bit.ly/1TcFp9n) that 23-year-old Joemalone Kaufusi apologized to the victim and her family as he was sentenced Thursday. Prosecutors say he beat the woman multiple times over the course of several months, punching her in the chest, banging her head into the wall and choking her with a chain.
Defense attorney Jason Widdison says Kaufusi was abused a child and suffers from untreated mental illness.
Kaufusi was featured in the film "In Football We Trust," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The former Weber State University student pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and attempted aggravated assault in plea deals.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
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