Sentence of a month of confinement and 3 years probation handed down after guilty plea

By Kevin Opsahl, Rogue Valley Times

A former Southern Oregon University wrestler was sentenced to a month of confinement and three years of probation for punching the owner of an Ashland Irish pub who refused to let him in the establishment.

Jaymes Anthony Juarez Jr., 22, pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to a charge of third-degree assault, admitting he punched the owner outside of O’Ryan’s Irish Pub on April 21, 2023. Juarez apologized at his sentencing on Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court, his attorney Matthew Rowan said.

Assault in the third degree is a Class C felony. Juarez was originally charged with second-degree assault — a Measure 11 offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison.

A separate misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree assault was dismissed.

Juarez must be confined for 30 days, according to a judgment signed Monday by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Charles G. Kochlacs.

He will have to work out with his probation officer whether to serve his confinement in the Jackson County Jail or at home, said Deputy District Attorney Samantha Olson in an email to the Rogue Valley Times on Wednesday.

Juarez, of the 800 block of Park Street, Ashland, indicated in a court filing Tuesday that he would like to serve home detention and would like to delay begin serving his confinement until June 1.

Juarez is currently enrolled as an SOU student, according to Joe Mosley, director of communications for the university, in an email Tuesday.

At the time of his arrest last year, Juarez was listed on the wrestling team’s website as a redshirt freshman, according to an earlier news report. He is not on the 2023-24 SOU wrestling team, according to the current roster found on the university’s website.

Juarez, who was suspended effective April 27, 2023, became eligible to return to SOU on March 1, Mosley said. SOU would not comment further.

Mosley did not say why SOU allowed Juarez to return even though the university initially said the suspension would remain in effect “until his legal situation is resolved.” Mosley indicated he was out of the office Wednesday and a follow-up inquiry to another SOU representative was not immediately returned.

Reporter Kevin Opsahl can be reached at 458-488-2034 or [email protected]. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.