90 Day Fiancé alum Geoffrey Paschel was sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault and interference with emergency calls.
Paschel, 41, was originally expected to arrive to court on December 3 to learn his fate after Judge Kyle Hixson revoked the reality star’s bond and ordered him into custody in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a result of his guilty verdict and previous dispute with ex-fiancée Kristen Wilson, which took place in June 2019.
Before his sentencing, Geoffrey was given the chance to address the court as part of his elocution. Standing before Judge Hixson teary-eyed, he said, “I respect Ms. Chapman and Ms. Moon,” and pleaded for a more lenient sentence.
The sentencing hearing was later postponed to February 2, 2022, and Court TV captured the moments leading up to his verdict in a YouTube live stream.
As for what led to his indictment, police had responded to a domestic disturbance back in June 2019, during which Wilson told authorities that she had been assaulted at home by Paschel. Wilson alleged the former Before the 90 Days star had “grabbed” her by the neck and “slammed” her head against a wall several times before throwing her to the ground.
Paschel, however, said they were both intoxicated amid the dispute and claimed that her bruises were self-inflicted while giving his testimony.
Jurors deliberated for a few hours before coming to a guilty verdict during the two-day trial on October 7. Paschel’s ex Mary Wallace was spotted wiping away tears in the courtroom as the judge revealed he would be taken into custody.
Paschel appeared in season 4 of the TLC spinoff 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. He joined the show with long-distance love Varya Malina, whom he got engaged to at the end of the season following her denial of a previous proposal and a love triangle with Wallace.
Due to his legal problems, Paschel was not invited to attend the season 4 tell-all taping, which he spoke out about in an Instagram Live.
“I’m not sad that I wasn’t on it,” he said in the video shared in June 2020. “The mentality of keeping me off the tell-all because somebody said something is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life. … I want my court case to be over with, and as soon as my court case is over with, then my life will proceed.”
Although Malina and Paschel were unable to give an update about their relationship status because of the circumstances, she has shown unwavering support to him on social media in recent months and has made it clear she is still a part of his life.
Plus, Malina announced she was selling her Florida-based house in November 2021, just before revealing that she moved into Paschel’s abode in Tennessee. The radio personality celebrated her one-year anniversary of living in America the following month, shortly after visiting the grave site of Paschel’s late son, Kazhem.
In January 2022, Malina took to Instagram Stories with a rare photo of Paschel behind bars, showing him sporting a clean-shaven look ahead of his sentencing.