AUGUSTA — A Searsport man who fired four gunshots into a car occupied by his ex-girlfriend and her new romantic interest, with one bullet coming within inches of the driver’s head, was sentenced Friday to four years and four months in prison.

On Oct. 21, 2022, the ex-girlfriend of Steven G. Pratt, 41, told him she had romantic feelings for a friend she was with that night. The friend 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. Police recovered one bullet from the B-pillar of the vehicle, adjacent to the driver’s head, which prosecutor Jake Demosthenes, an assistant district attorney, said could have struck the driver in the head and killed her had it been just inches to the left.

Justice Michaela Murphy said Pratt’s actions that night easily could have resulted in both women being shot and killed.

“There but for the grace of God, this is not a double homicide,” Murphy said as she sentenced Pratt to 52 months in prison, on a 10-year sentence with all but those 52 months suspended. “If one or more of those bullets had gone an inch or two in either direction, he’d be looking at a life sentence.”

The woman whom Pratt had a 10-year relationship with said she’s afraid of what could happen when Pratt gets out of jail, and that his tendency to hold grudges makes her scared that she won’t be safe.

The other victim testified Friday at the Capital Judicial Center that because of what Pratt did to her she has frequent panic attacks that bring her back to that night, and her young son fears whenever she leaves the house that she may not come back alive.

“My life matters to that little boy,” she said. “The longer Mr. Pratt is incarcerated, the safer my children will feel. The safer I will feel. I need time to heal.”

Demosthenes noted both victims felt Pratt should have been convicted of attempted murder, and sentenced to a longer prison term.

Pratt was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder, but those charges were dismissed as part of a deal in which Pratt pleaded, via an Alford plea, guilty to two counts of attempted elevated aggravated assault, and guilty to domestic violence reckless conduct, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, and domestic violence criminal threatening.

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 set Pratt’s sentence at 10 years, but with all but up to six years of that suspended.

Murphy sentenced him to 52 months of unsuspended prison time, with a maximum sentence of 10 years, with three years of probation, on the attempted elevated aggravated murder charges. And another five years, consecutive of suspended time, and four years probation, on the other charges.

If Pratt violates any of the condition of his probation, he could have to serve the entire suspended time of those 10 and five-year terms. Probation conditions include he have no contact with the victims or their children, not possess alcohol, illegal drugs, or firearms or other dangerous weapons, complete a domestic violence prevention program, complete psychological and substance use evaluations and complete any treatment recommended for him.

Murphy said she sought, in sentencing, to help ensure when Pratt is inevitably released from prison that he stays away from his victims and that his mental health problems are regulated in a way he won’t harm anyone else.

Pratt, who has no prior criminal record and as part of the sentencing process was diagnosed by a forensic psychologist as having borderline personality disorder, stood in court to say he took responsibility for his actions and apologized for what he’d done.

He insisted he did not intend to kill anyone that night.

“It has been a rough two-and-a-half years. I understand I had a mental health episode that night,” Pratt said. “I can’t go back and change it and I want to accept responsibility for my actions that night. Even though my intent was not to kill anybody. I apologize (to the victims) and understand what I’ve put them through and that I can never have contact with any of them. I know I need to stay away from alcohol and I need to get mental health treatment that I may not necessarily be able to get when I’m incarcerated.”

Zachary Fey, one of Pratt’s two lawyers, emphasized Pratt’s lack of any criminal charges prior to the 2022 incident. He said Pratt was abused by a “predatory” neighbor when he was 11 years old. And that he dealt with his undiagnosed borderline personality disorder his entire life. He said Pratt, a long-haul truck driver, helped raise his ex-girlfriend’s young son and, when she broke up with him, he was on the road and left not knowing if he had a home, partner or family to return to. He said even before his mental health diagnosis Pratt knew something was wrong with his brain, and had started online therapy, but was unable to get the mental health treatment he needed. And he said Pratt pleaded guilty in part to spare the victims from having to testify at trial.

On Oct. 21, 2022, Pratt’s ex-girlfriend told him she had romantic feelings for a friend she was with that night, in Fairfield. The two women drove off with Pratt, unbeknownst to them, following them at a distance. Pratt followed them for several miles then, on a rural stretch of road, drove alongside them on Garland Road in Winslow in a yellow pickup truck and fired four shots from a handgun,

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.

In a video played in court Friday, one of the women was hyperventilating as she spoke to police, and hid behind the police cruiser, in fear that Pratt might find them.