By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A 27-year-old Hays man was sentenced Tuesday to almost two
and a half years in prison in connection with a 2025 aggravated assault.
In May, Michael Joshua Neuwirth pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and interference with law enforcement.
As part of the plea agreement, Neuwirth was sentenced Tuesday in Ellis County District Court to 29 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections for aggravated assault.
He was also sentenced to eight months for felon in possession of a firearm and six months for interference with law enforcement.
The final two sentences will run concurrently with the first, for a total of 29 months in prison.
According to court documents, on April 25, 2025, Neuwirth entered a home armed with a 9 mm pistol, pointed the gun at a man and a woman inside and pulled the trigger.
Neuwirth missed, and the victims were uninjured.
Neuwirth was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, but the state amended the complaint to drop that charge.
Neuwirth agreed to plead guilty to the three charges—one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and interference with law enforcement—and the state agreed to dismiss five additional charges.
At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, the state requested that the judge sentence Neuwirth to 43 months in prison.
Neuwirth’s attorney argued for a downward departure to probation.
Because Neuwirth has a prior conviction for burglary in Montana, his criminal history was higher on the sentencing scale than anticipated, and the court imposed a 29-month prison sentence.
Neuwirth had 187 days of jail credit.