Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Facing 5-7 Years In Prison If Convicted After Domestic Violence Arrest

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro was tased and arrested by the LAPD after allegedly chasing Jen Harley with a knife on Oct. 4. He’s now out on bail, but according to two California criminal lawyers, he’s facing serious time behind bars.

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, 33, could end up behind bars for more than five years after he was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning, Oct. 4, for an alleged domestic dispute with longtime girlfriend Jen Harley. Making things even worse for the Jersey Shore star, his daughter Ariana Sky, 18 mos., was at the scene. HollywoodLife spoke to two Los Angeles criminal attorneys to get details on the very serious consequences the troubled reality star is now facing.

Los Angeles criminal attorney Michael Kraut told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, “The likely charges associated with this would be in the realm of domestic violence felony. Assault with a deadly weapon, which is the knife. And child endangerment and cruelty. He is probably facing somewhere between 5 to 7 years in state prison if he’s convicted on all charges and given the maximum sentence.”

Although Ronnie was reportedly arrested on a kidnapping charge, the longtime attorney is doubtful the D.A. will move forward with those charges. “The kidnapping charge, in my opinion, won’t stick because it’s a minor and it is his child, so he has custody to move the child. So I don’t believe that the kidnapping will be filed as a criminal case, but it’s the most significant charge for LAPD to try and hold the person on. Let me explain it like this, if he moved his wife against her will that would be kidnapping. But if he moved a minor, of which he is the parent and he shares custody, then it is not kidnapping. It’s like if I move my child in the supermarket and my spouse is not happy about it, that’s still not kidnapping, I just moved my child.”

When asked about the possible penalties that Ronnie now faces, Ambrosio E. Rodriguez, an ex-Los Angeles D.A., said: “Because the police tasered him it means there was an actual confrontation in which he most likely fought with police. That’s a violation of Penal Code Section 69 and that can carry up to three years in prison. If he’s charged with hitting his [girlfriend] that’s a violation – that’s felony domestic violence if there is an injury. Felony domestic violence requires an injury. Misdemeanor does not. So, if you’re my wife and I push you – shove you – that’s misdemeanor domestic violence. But if I punch you and leave a black eye that’s a felony. It’s a matter of degree.

“If he used a knife in any way to threaten her, to assault her that [equals] more charges, more time that he’s looking at and that could be anything from three to six or more years. In California it’s always more. Most people don’t know that California – when it comes to time – it’s a very conservative state. California crimes carry a high amount of time.

“Felony domestic violence can carry up to four years in prison, but it could be more if he used a weapon of any kind. If you get tasered on a domestic violence call, I’ve been doing this for 22 years, it’s not going to be misdemeanor case. Obviously we don’t know exactly what happened, what can be proven…we’re using these numbers as worst case scenarios.”

As grim as the situation seems for Ronnie, according to Ambrosio E. Rodriguez there is some hope for a more lenient sentence. “He doesn’t have a criminal record it could be pled down. He is eligible for probation, parenting classes, anger management, some kind of counseling, free labor or local time. I expect that he’ll be bailed out today.”