District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announces a state prison sentence for a man convicted of strangling the mother of his child and telling her not to testify during his trial.

Dallas Young, 31, of Allentown, was sentenced Aug. 4 to serve 10 to 20 years in state prison.

The sentence was handed down by Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge Robert L. Steinberg.

Young was convicted by a jury on April 1 of felony charges of strangulation — applying pressure to throat or neck and lesser charges of simple assault, harassment, intimidation of witness/victim elude/evade/ignore and intimidation of witness/victim — disobey summons.

This case was investigated as a domestic assault and the victim’s name will not be released.

Shortly after noon on Dec. 11, 2024, Upper Macungie Township Police were called to a domestic assault at 5321 W. Tilghman St.

The victim, who has a child with Young, said they were having a verbal argument about Young’s vehicle being broke down when the argument turned physical.

The victim said Young choked her with his hands, lifting her off the ground twice.

Each time, she told police she nearly lost consciousness and could not breathe.

She said Young also struck her in the face, causing bruising and swelling.

The victim recorded a portion of the assault on her cellphone.

Soon after Young was taken to Lehigh County Jail, he called the victim repeatedly and told her not to come to court because the case against him could not proceed.

Although the jail’s policy states that inmates are not able to contact their victims, an investigation revealed 1,200 phone calls between Young and the victim.

Because of that intimidation where Young told the victim not to show up for court and ignore the requests of prosecutors and police, the victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution and failed to appear to testify in court.

This case was investigated by Upper Macungie Township Police Detective John Sassaman III and Lehigh County District Attorney Detective Gail Struss and was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Ashely N. Troxell.