Man sentenced one to five years for third-degree sexual assault

MORGANTOWN — A man who pleaded no contest to third-degree sexual assault was sentenced to prison Monday.
Ronald J. Fragmin, 30, will serve one to five years behind bars. The sentence was handed down by Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Russell Clawges. He also ordered Fragmin to pay $940 in restitution to the West Virginia Crime Victim Compensation Fund and make a one-time payment of $10 to the Monongalia County Victim Assistance Program. Fragmin will be on 10 years of extended supervision after his release.
The sentence will run consecutive to the sentence Fragmin is serving for shoplifting.
Defense attorney Ed Rollo told the court his client had no other option but to accept the statutory punishment. Fragmin pleaded no contest to the crime in February and the sentencing was scheduled for the end of April, but Rollo asked for a continuance in an attempt to get Fragmin in sex offender counseling — which is required for an alternative sentence, such as home confinement or probation. However, with his client in jail that did not come to fruition.
Fragmin declined to address the court.
Prosecutor Gabrielle Mucciola asked that Fragmin be sentenced to one to five years as he committed other crimes while on bond for this one. She also asked that he be ordered to reimburse the West Virginia Crime Victims Compensation Fund $940 that it paid to the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center for the juvenile victim’s counseling.
The victim’s grandmother was in attendance, but did not make a statement before the court. Mucciola said everything she wanted to say was included in the victim impact statement she submitted.