By Josh Verges, Austin Daily Herald

AUSTIN &045; As Manuel Junior Velez waited for his hearing to begin Monday, his concern was with saying goodbye to his girlfriend and their infant child, who will turn 7 about the time he is eligible for parole.

Velez, 18, of Albert Lea, is the last of five teenagers to be sentenced for varying roles in a violent assault at closing time May 15 outside El Palacio de la Cumbia in downtown Austin. A now 18-year-old Austin man who has since moved to another state was beaten with beer bottles, kicked, punched and stabbed in the head with a 4.5-inch knife.

&8220;What I did I know was wrong. I’m real sorry for that,&8221; Velez said at sentencing Friday in Mower County District Court. &8220;I want to help people like me when I get out of prison, hopefully working with people my age.&8221;

Velez was given credit for the 288 days he has spent in jail since his arrest several hours after the assault. Judge Donald Rysavy said the presentencing investigation agreed with the plea agreement, which called for a sentence of 11 years, six months for first-degree assault with no criminal history points.

Rysavy said he hopes Velez is sincere about making good use of his time in prison and once he gets out. Velez is expected to be placed in St. Cloud, where he will begin serving at least two-thirds of the sentence minus time served, making him parole eligible in January 2013.

Velez pleaded guilty to first-degree assault Jan. 12, and had attempted murder charges dropped.

&8220;It’s kind of a tragic case in many ways,&8221; public defender Linda Zarrett said in Mower County District Court Friday, noting her client’s age and the seriousness of his crime.

Velez asked his attorneys, Zarrett and Meg Mitchell, before the hearing Friday to make sure he could see 19-year-old Ashia Velarde and their baby before he is transported to prison. County Attorney Pat Flanagan said the order for no contact among co defendants should end with the sentencing.

Velarde, who believed attending the sentencing might violate probation for her role in the case, was picked up by a friend of Velez’s and arrived during the hearing. Rysavy said at the close of sentencing Friday that any no contact provision should be lifted.

According to court documents and statements, Velez was dancing with Velarde the night of May 14, when she pointed out a man she said was charged with sexually assaulting her and was skipping court appearances. Though charges were never filed because Velarde didn’t cooperate with the investigation, Velez spent the next one to two hours planning an attack on the man.

He recruited Abraham Rodriguez, 16, of Carroll, Iowa, at the bar and picked up 16-year-old cousins Jose Luis Martinez, Jr. and Juan Raul Charles from a birthday party at an Austin apartment where Velez had been earlier in the night.

When the man exited the bar at 12:50 a.m. with his girlfriend and her mother, he was struck with a beer bottle, beaten and stabbed as he was chased west to the taco stand and back to an alley. The assailants drove away when the mother of the victim’s girlfriend called police with a cell phone.

Martinez and Charles, both of Albert Lea, were sentenced last summer to 86 months, which was stayed for both as long as they complete about a year-long residential youth treatment program and behave until they turn 21. Both reached agreements to plead guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree assault in exchange for prosecutors dropping aid and abet attempted murder charges.

Rodriguez was sentenced Dec. 2 to seven years and two months in prison. Originally charged with attempted murder, he pleaded guilty to first-degree assault after a DNA test proved his knife did not have the victim’s blood on it.

Velarde received probation in October on an 18-month sentence for accessory after the fact to first-degree assault. She held two knives belonging to Velez and Rodriguez under her shirt when police stopped a car with the suspects in it.

The assault victim has appeared in court only once &045; for the June sentencing of Charles &045;&160;and has not kept contact with prosecutors. Judge Rysavy ruled to allow a 45-day window for the victim to file for restitution.

(Josh Verges is at 434-2214 or josh.verges@austindailyherald.com.)