Man convicted in eye-gouging attack sentenced to 35 years

PICNEYVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southern Illinois man convicted of an attack in which he stuck his fingers in another man's eyes and blinded him has been sentenced to 35 years in prison by a judge who told him he deserved more time behind bars.

The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reported that the sentence imposed Wednesday by Perry County Judge James Campanella comes four months after a jury found Allen J. Fisher guilty of aggravated assault with great bodily harm and torture in the 2018 attack of Robert Pfister.

Prosecutors contended during the trial that Pfister was driving near Fisher's Swanwick home when Fisher followed him, apparently angry that Pfister was driving on his street. When Pfister pulled over, Fisher grabbed him, pushed him into a ditch and gouged his eyes with his fingers.