Jessica Suerth

The Republic | azcentral.com

A Scottsdale woman was sentenced to five years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault for shooting her ex-husband in 2015.

Rhonda Cerny, 59, shot ex-husband Craig Cerny in the chest in July 2015 and the man survived his injuries. Rhonda Cerny claimed at the time that she was defending herself after he had threatened to strangle her.

But Scottsdale police found a suicide note Cerny had left for her children, which they said was evidence that Cerny planned to shoot her former husband at their home near Happy Valley and Alma School roads.

Craig and the couple's three adult daughters were absent from Monday's sentencing in front of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Theresa Sanders, but Craig's attorney Garrett Smith read his client's statement that emphasized a need to "move on" from this and put a greater focus on family.

"As a Christian, I forgive her, but I still can't stand to see her," part of the statement read. "The wounds are still too fresh."

Cerny declined to make a statement of her own in court Monday, instead deferring to criminal defense attorney Jason Lamm to comment on her desire to "put this all behind us" and focus on the family.

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During the sentencing, Sanders pointed to several mitigating circumstances as a reason for a lighter sentence, including Cerny's age and her lack of a criminal history.

Rhonda Cerny and Craig Cerny, who is the former chairman and CEO of California-based Harrington West Financial Group, had been dealing with divorce proceedings since 2013 when the shooting happened.

According to court records, Cerny told police that she went to the home to confront Craig about allegedly forging her name on documents — a statement which she later retracted — when he became enraged, said he hated her and threatened to kill her.

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Smith corroborated this claim Monday, saying Cerny "duped" her youngest daughter into driving her to the home to discuss college funds at the time and even went out of her way to dodge security cameras to gain access to the house.

Cerny told police she then grabbed a gun from the kitchen drawer to defend herself and shot her ex-husband in the chest, court records show.

Craig later told police that he does not keep guns in the home, according to court records. Smith also added that Craig does not own a gun.

Craig suffered a non-life threatening chest injury, but was in the hospital for two weeks after the shooting.

Cerny was arrested on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, burglary and trespassing, but pleaded guilty to just the aggravated assault charge.