A 38-year-old Florida man arrested earlier this year in Clarendon County has been sentenced in federal court for interstate domestic violence and interstate violation of a protection order.
Robert W. McCandless of Bristol, Florida, was sentenced to a little more than 12.5 years in federal prison on Oct. 1.
McCandless pleaded guilty July 9 in federal court to violating a protection order after unlawfully entering his former girlfriend's home Jan. 16, strangling the woman with a communications cord and then forcing her and the couple's two children to travel with him out of Florida.
Clarendon County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested McCandless about eight hours later on Interstate 95. The victim received medical treatment for injuries consistent with strangulation at Clarendon Memorial Hospital.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Christopher P. Canova announced the sentence. Aside from local deputies, the case was handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Liberty County (Florida) Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen M. Kunz prosecuted the case.
