Back in May of 2013 my son Christopher Russell was breaking up with his girlfriend. During the breakup there was a heated argument and she called his friend Taylor to pick him up. She also called her friend Heather. When Taylor showed up the argument had been over and there was no yelling. Taylor had not seen any distress or marks on the plaintiff. During that time her friend Heather showed up and her remarks was to Chris "I've been waiting for this day".   Taylor heard this too and she tried to start a fight with Chris and Taylor. They left the apartment and went on their way to eat and shop. So between the time they left Heather and the plaintiff concocted the story that Chris had threatened her with a knife and beat her. There was a big time gap of hours before the police were notified of the assault. There was no arrest or charges filed until August of 2013. He has no criminal background of any kind. He went to trial with his lawyer and was convicted and found guilty of 2nd degree with a deadly weapon. He was handcuffed and brought into the Hennepin County Correction facility. He is not a flight risk! He has a good work record and a great friend to many out there that care about his well being. If he does get sentenced he will be a ward of the state and wasting our taxpayers money. It would be better served to be on work release and be a functional person in our society then to be in prison. It would be detrimental to his family and friends to see him in prison possibly hundreds of miles away from caring people in his life. We would not be able to see him on a regular basis for his own well being. Also without any criminal record it wouldn't be good for him to be surrounded by repeat offenders. Therefore we would greatly suggest work release with time served. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.