Former Navy submariner from Calif. pleads guilty to assault in NH beating

Ex-Navy submariner pleads guilty in NH beating

BRENTWOOD, N.H. — A former Navy submariner charged with beating a man in Portsmouth, N.H., last year has pleaded guilty to assault.

Twenty-four-year-old Sandy Portobanco, of Los Angeles, entered the plea Thursday in Rockingham County Superior Court.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that Portobanco could end up serving three to six years in state prison for kicking or driving his knee into the head of Stephen Huntress, of Kittery, Maine, during a fight just outside Portsmouth.

Portobanco’s co-defendant, 23-year-old Gerald Smith, of Honolulu, is still facing charges.

Portobanco and Smith were crew members of the USS Greeneville. The nuclear submarine was being repaired at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. They have both been discharged from the Navy.

Information from: New Hampshire Union Leader, www.unionleader.com