The man who admitted to jumping a woman as she walked along a Balboa Park trail has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Ameen Bryant, 22, received the maximum sentence Thursday after pleading guilty last month to attempted robbery. He has a prior robbery conviction on his record from a 2012 incident.
In August, Bryant was tried on a charge of assault with intent to rape stemming from the Jan. 14 incident, but he told the court he had attacked the woman to steal her phone, not rape her.
A deadlocked jury forced the judge to declare a mistrial, and the District Attorney’s Office decided not to retry the case because they say it’s hard to prove a defendant’s intent.
Instead, prosecutors and defense attorneys worked out a plea deal in which Bryant admits to the attempted robbery charge.
The charges come from the January attack, when Bryant grabbed the victim as she walked alone on the Bridle Trail in broad daylight. He forced her to the ground, and when the woman screamed, he tried to stuff dirt in her face.
Bryant then ran away as two people walked up along the trail.
After the incident, police released a composite sketch of the suspect in an effort to find him. The next day, Bryant was taken into custody.