BARTOW — A Lakeland man whose dogs mauled a Lakeland Electric worker at his home in February has been sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading no contest to criminal charges related to the attack.

Polk County sheriff’s deputies responding to the attack fatally shot one of Matthew Joseph Overton’s two dogs during the incident, which left Linda Knowlton Dionne with injuries to her legs, arms and hands.

Overton, 25, was charged with owning a dangerous dog causing severe injury, a third-degree felony. He could have faced up to five years in prison if convicted.

In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Overton was sentenced to probation, but he must make other arrangements for any dogs he owns and he's prohibited from acquiring or having control over animals while on probation, according to court records. He also must complete 100 hours of community service.

By pleading no contest, Overton didn’t admit to the charges, but wasn’t challenging the allegations against him. Legally, the plea carries the same weight as a guilty plea.

Overton’s dog, a pit bull named Sofia, had been classified as a dangerous dog in June 2016 following an incident about a mile from Overton’s house. Because of the classification, Overton was required to confine the dog indoors or in a locked pen, court records show. When Dionne arrived at the house to disconnect a meter for nonpayment, the gate was open and the dog was loose, records show. No one was home at the time, according to the arrest affidavit.

Dionne, 59, was treated and released from Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center for wounds she received in the Feb. 13 attack, including six stitches in her right arm.

Dionne said Monday she agreed with the plea agreement.

“I think what he got was fair,” she said. “That way, he can at least still work and support himself.”

Dionne, a 22-year veteran at Lakeland Electric, said she’s been on light duty since February, resulting from a knee injury during the attack.

She filed a lawsuit against Overton two weeks after the incident and took an undisclosed settlement in that case in June, court records show.

Deputies responded to the house at 941 Fish Hatchery Road about 11 a.m. after Dionne had activated the emergency button on her Lakeland Electric call radio, reports state.

They found Dionne lying on the porch with two dogs attacking her. As they approached the house, the two dogs came off the porch toward the deputies in an attacking manner, according to the affidavit, and deputies killed one of them. The other dog, an American bull dog named Haze, escaped under the house, but was later captured and taken to an animal control facility.

Eight months earlier, Pat Jeffries, a medical transport driver, was picking up a client along Jungle Street, about a mile from Overton’s residence. When she heard a dog barking, she said in an interview with The Ledger in February, she turned to find Sofia standing close by. Jeffries said she felt the dog’s teeth brush against her leg as she lunged back into her car for protection, but the dog didn’t bite her.

The other dog, Haze, was returned to Overton in April, according to court records, after he pleaded no contest in Polk County Court to failure to comply with owner requirements regarding a vicious dog. Carrie Horstman, spokeswoman for the Polk County Sheriff's Office, said Overton is in compliance with the department's animal-control regulations.

-Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.