Greensburg man sentenced to prison for girlfriend's beatings

A Greensburg man will serve up to eight years in prison for two brutal attacks that injured an East Huntingdon woman in 2023.

James Dennis Lehneke Jr., 48, pleaded guilty in two separate cases to multiple felony charges, including strangulation, aggravated assault and related offenses that police said occurred several months apart.

According to police records, Lehneke on Aug. 26, 2023, struck a former girlfriend in the back of her head with an unknown object. Later that day he chased her into nearby woods and repeatedly hit her in the head and face with a flashlight and put her in a choke hold. She later fell over an embankment before she was able to contact her son to take her to a local hospital for treatment, police said.

During a second incident four months later, the woman told police she unexpectedly found Lehneke at her residence when she arrived home on Christmas Day. Lehneke no longer lived in the home as a result of the prior incident, she said. She claimed Lehneke started to scream, then repeatedly punched her in the head and strangled her as she fell to the ground.

Police said she sustained facial injuries, a broken orbital bone and a fractured spine in the second assault.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears imposed the terms of the negotiated plea deal that calls for Lehneke, who has been in jail since his arrest, to serve four to eight years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Aubri Swank said the woman consented to the plea deal based on the condition Lehneke serve no less than four years in prison. Defense attorney Ken Noga said prosecutors threatened to seek a 20-year prison sentence for Lehneke if he was convicted following a trial.

Lehneke told the judge it was in his best interest to plead guilty.

“I want to use my time wisely to be a better father to my kids,” Lehneke said.