Staff file photo / Ed Runyan Marc Berry, left, was sentenced to nine months in prison Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for abusing a patient at the Youngstown nursing home where he worked last September. Berry pleaded guilty in April to felony patient abuse. At right is his attorney, Jim Wise.

YOUNGSTOWN — Marc Berry, 57, of La Belle Avenue was sentenced to nine months in prison Thursday after pleading guilty earlier to patient abuse, a fourth-degree felony, for abusing a patient at a Youngstown nursing home where he worked.

A Youngstown police report states that officers were called Sept. 16 to Canfield Healthcare nursing home on Canfield Road and spoke with staff members, who said a resident and staff member, Berry, were engaged in a physical altercation.

Officers then spoke to the resident, who said he and Berry got into an argument in the hallway, and Berry pushed the resident against a wall and started punching him in the right side and left neck area. The resident uses a wheelchair.

The resident said he just had surgery, and his left hip also was in pain, but he did not remember all of the places where Berry “made contact with him.” He added that Berry also “jumped on top” of him and continued hitting him. Berry then left the facility, the report states.

No “noticeable injuries could be seen” on the victim, the report notes. Police collected witness statements and noted that the nursing home has cameras in the hallway where the incident took place.

The plea agreement Berry reached with prosecutors in April called for prosecutors to recommend that Berry get six months in the county jail.

Berry was not taken immediately into custody to begin serving his sentence. He will report to jail today. He gets credit for eight days spent in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial. Berry also was ordered to have no contact with the victim.