A Carbon County man who previously admitted assaulting his wife was sentenced to a county prison term on Monday.

Christopher Michael Lower, 37, of Nesquehoning, was sentenced by Judge Joseph J. Matika to serve three to 12 months in prison on a charge of simple assault.

On April 16, Nesquehoning police responded to the 300 block of West Mill Street for a domestic incident. They were met at the door by Lower’s wife, who had visible signs of being assaulted, including bleeding from the mouth and other marks on her.

The sentence imposed was in the mitigated range of state sentencing guidelines. The standard range was six to 12 months. Matika sentenced him in the lower range after receiving a signed affidavit by Lower’s wife requesting the mitigated range.

Matika said he was skeptical of the situation. He told Lower that there is a history of a “volatile” relationship with police getting calls to the residence in prior incidents.

At the plea hearing, Matika had warned Lower he faced a prison term under sentencing guidelines because of a prior criminal record. Matika said, “Your prior record comes back to haunt you.”

In addition to the prison term, Matika ordered Lower to get a mental health evaluation, attend and successfully complete anger management counseling, render 50 hours of community service, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee.

He was given credit for four days spent in jail on the charges.

He will begin the jail term at 7 p.m. on Oct. 20 and serve it on consecutive two-day weekends.