AUGUSTA — A Searsport man who fired several shots into a vehicle occupied by his ex-girlfriend and her new romantic interest in Winslow pleaded guilty Thursday to several charges as part of a plea agreement.

Steven G. Pratt, 41, pleaded guilty to seven charges, the most serious being two counts of attempted elevated aggravated assault. Two counts of attempted murder were dropped in the plea agreement.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but up to six years suspended.

Jake Demosthenes, an assistant district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties, said the six years of unsuspended prison time is a negotiated cap on Pratt’s maximum unsuspended sentence. That means Pratt could get up to six years in prison, but Pratt’s defense lawyers will be able to make their arguments to Justice Michaela Murphy for less time.

Some of the crimes to which Pratt has pleaded guilty carry a minimum sentence of two years, so his unsuspended time in prison is expected to be between two and six years.

Pratt, a long-haul truck driver, had argued with his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had had a 10-year relationship, about their recent breakup, saying he did not want to lose her.

On Oct. 21, 2022, Pratt’s ex-girlfriend told him she had romantic feelings for a friend she was with that night. The friend, a woman named as the second victim in Pratt’s crimes, was driving with Pratt’s ex-girlfriend when Pratt drove alongside them on Garland Road in Winslow in a pickup truck and fired four shots from a handgun, three of them hitting the vehicle in which the women were riding, according to Demosthenes.

Police later recovered spent bullets from the vehicle, with bullet holes in the vehicle located in a lug nut; a driver’s side rear quarter panel, near the fuel tank; and in the B-pillar of the vehicle, next to where the driver’s head would be, Demosthenes said.

Police said they also found multiple 9 mm bullet casings inside the pickup truck that Pratt was driving that night.

After the gunfire, the women turned around and headed toward the Winslow Police Department. They stopped when they came across a Winslow officer parked on the side of the road. The officer escorted them to the police station at 114 Benton Ave.

Demosthenes said in court that Pratt’s ex-girlfriend hid behind a vehicle when talking to the officer because the victims were terrified that Pratt would come after them again.

Pratt was arrested after he surrendered peacefully the next day at the Irving Circle K truck stop at 204 Center Road in Fairfield, where his tractor-trailer had been parked.

Pratt pleaded through an Alford plea to the two charges of attempted elevated aggravated assault, and guilty to five other lesser charges: domestic violence reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct with a firearm, domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and criminal mischief.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to find him or her guilty. It has the same effect on sentencing as when a defendant enters a guilty plea.

The plea agreement was reached as Pratt’s nonjury trial was scheduled to begin Thursday morning.

Pratt has been jailed since his arrest two years ago, according to one of his two lawyers, Daniel Wentworth.

The agreed-upon part of Pratt’s sentence is a 10-year prison sentence, with all but up to six years of that suspended, and three years probation. That means if he does not comply with the terms of his probation, which includes not possessing firearms, not committing any new crimes and not having any contact with the victims, he could spend up to 10 years in prison.

Murphy said Friday the victims in the case will have a chance to testify, and a doctor hired by the defense to conduct a forensic evaluation of Pratt will testify in court Friday about Pratt’s state of mind and his intent at the time of the incident.

Murphy said sentencing is to be scheduled after she considers Friday’s planned testimony and reads written arguments from lawyers on both sides.