A man who hit his girlfriend in the face with a metal rod because she didn’t serve him first when preparing a meal was sentenced Thursday, Aug. 23, to two years and two months in prison.

James Autero Leavell, 39, pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to felony domestic assault in the June 18 incident, which started when he sat down to a meal with his 41-year-old girlfriend and a neighbor at a home in the 500 block of Kennard Street in St. Paul.

When the girlfriend served the neighbor first, Leavell became enraged and pushed, kicked and punched the girlfriend, according to the complaint.

He then struck the woman in the face with a metal rod, according to the complaint. Leavell had eight prior felony convictions and three prior domestic violence offenses in the last 10 years, according to the complaint.

“I’d like to send my apologies out to the community,” said Leavell before being sentenced by Judge Rosanne Nathanson. “I want to better myself.”