LISBON — An emotional Nathan A. Johnson apologized to the families he terrorized in July and said he deserved the consequences, learning Friday that those consequences include at least seven years in prison.

“Those families will live with this for the rest of their lives,” Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton said.

Bickerton followed the recommendation of county Assistant Prosecutor Steve Yacovone in sentencing Johnson to a minimum seven years and a maximum 10.5 years for qualifying offenses of first-degree felony aggravated burglary, and second-degree felonies of felonious assault and burglary. He entered guilty pleas to all three charges.

Once he serves the seven years, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can decide if he needs to stay longer, depending on his behavior while he’s there, for an additional period of up to half of the original seven-year term — or three-and-a-half years.

He was ordered to pay restitution of $1,776 for damages to a door and for medical expenses. He’s prohibited from ever owning or using a firearm.

Yacovone described the events of July 15 on Hatcher Road when Johnson showed up at the home of state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel and 7th District Court of Appeals Judge Carol Robb. He demanded to know where the Robbs were and asked about a girl and then became violent with Monica’s husband, Charles Blasdel. He then took a chair and broke the glass of the door to break into the house where an 8-year-old girl was present, then he came back out and went across the street, breaking into the home of the Yarian family, where another girl was present.

“They still have a fear that something like this could happen again. This defendant took that from them, that sense of security you should have in your own home,” Yacovone said.

According to an affidavit filed in county Municipal Court, during the encounter, Johnson pulled into the Hatcher Road property at a high rate of speed and approached Charles Blasdel aggressively. He punched him in the head and knocked him to the ground. Johnson also grabbed Blasdel’s phone.

Yacovone said the families were told about the plea deal and were satisfied. As part of the deal, charges from the indictment that included third-degree felonies of robbery and attempted burglary, fourth-degree felony disrupting public services and misdemeanor theft were dismissed.

None of the victims was in attendance at the hearing, but Johnson’s mother, Beth, who was there with his father and brother, addressed the court, saying how really sorry they were for Nathan’s actions.

“The Nathan we know is a kind and considerate man,” she said.

She recalled a time when he took a bike home to Ohio and a man who used to pass his home asked if he could use the bike. He let him and then the man brought the bike back and then the man asked if he could use it again. Nathan called and asked if he could just give the bike to the man.

She said family was important to him and he would always help with projects. She shared that he had an inflammatory disease that causes him chronic back pain, but never used it as an excuse.

“I humbly ask the court to consider an alternative that will let Nathan come out stronger. Please show leniency in his sentencing,” his mother said.

Defense attorney Jeff Jakmides also spoke on his client’s behalf, saying “there’s no explanation for what he did that day.”

He talked about the challenge of explaining to someone what prison life is like and that not many first offenders are in prison. He said he had an alcohol problem at one time and was 10 years sober. What happened was out of character for him.

Johnson cried as his mother spoke and told the court “scaring those girls that day was the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

He said he was beyond ashamed of what he did and knows that hitting someone is something you can’t take back and something that makes him deserve consequences. In talking about the victim, Charles Blasdel, he said, “I hope my actions towards him caused no, God forbid, lasting permanent damage.”

He couldn’t imagine what he would do if someone broke into his house.

“I apologize to the victims as strongly as I can,” he said, also apologizing to his mom and dad.

In county Municipal Court, he was fined $100 and sentenced to 30 days in jail for criminal mischief and also ordered to pay restitution of $487.99 for damage to a Trump sign. The county sheriff’s office took a report on July 11 that an unknown male spray painted swastikas on a Trump sign at state Route 7 and Waterford Road. Johnson admitted to doing it when taken into custody.