Man gets jail for Christmas party brawl in Round Lake Beach

A Brooklyn, N.Y. man was sentenced to six months in jail Tuesday after pleading guilty to attacking a man with a beer bottle at a Christmas party.

Venarco Crespo, 26, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery during a hearing before Circuit Judge Fred Foreman.

Assistant State's Attorney Reginald Mathews said Crespo was in the Round Lake Beach area visiting relatives and was attending a party on Christmas Day in the 1600 block of Williams Drive.

An argument began between Crespo and the girlfriend of a 34-year-old man at the party, Mathews said, and the man stepped in to break it up.

Crespo took a beer bottle and swung it at the man, breaking the bottle and leaving a swollen red mark across the man's face.

That man's 24-year-old brother confronted Crespo, and Crespo swung the bottle at him and cut off the upper part of his left ear.

The younger brother needed several stitches to close the wound, Mathews said, but the older man did not require medical care.

Crespo was arrested at the scene and has been held on $250,000 bond ever since.

Crespo could have faced up to five years in prison if he had been convicted after a trial.