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Thornton man sentenced to 69 years for 2018 Weld County assault

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Posted at 5:46 PM, Dec 09, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-09 19:46:51-05

DENVER – A Thornton man was sentenced last week to 69 years in prison for the horrific beating of a man in Frederick in May 2018.

Michael Galusha, 48, received the 69-year sentence from a Weld County judge last week after he was convicted in October of multiple counts, including attempted first-degree murder, assault, kidnapping and more in the incident.

Three sentence enhancers for committing a crime of violence were also applied to Galusha’s sentence as well. The sentence from Judge Julie Hoskins was one year short of the maximum sentence Galusha faced.

Galusha drove to the victim’s garage in Frederick in May 2018 to confront him about something regarding Galusha’s nephew. Prosecutors said that he pinned the victim in with his car and beat him unconscious with the handle of a car jack.

Before leaving, Galusha stomped on the man’s head and attempted to run him over, prosecutors said.

“If his aim had been better or if the victim had not regained consciousness when he did, he would have been facing a murder charge instead of attempted murder,” said Weld County Deputy District Attorney Ashley Fetyko, who prosecuted the case, in a statement. “The defendant tried to kill the victim over and over and over again that night, and that callousness and violence, coupled with the defendant’s criminal history warranted a maximum sentence.”