FOREST CITY, Iowa — An Albert Lea man has been sentenced to five years in prison in connection with a 2009 incident at a bar and grill in Buffalo Center.

Winnebago County District Court Judge Bryan McKinley sentenced 36-year-old Omar Gaspar Sanchez to two, five-year prison terms on charges of willful injury causing bodily injury, a class D felony.

McKinley ordered the sentences run concurrently.

The charges were pleaded down from two counts of willful injury causing serious injury, a class C felony.

Fines of $5,000 for each count were suspended.

Charges of going armed with intent and carrying a concealed knife used in a crime were dismissed.

The charges stem from a Dec. 31, 2009, incident at the First Street Bar & Grill in Buffalo Center.

The charges alleged two people had been struck by a car and a third person had been stabbed, according to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department.

Sanchez was to have been sentenced on June 7 in Winnebago County District Court. He did not appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was taken into custody and posted bond on June 10. Sanchez was released on his promise to appear for sentencing on July 19.

— By Peggy Senzarino, Mason City Globe-Gazette