Homophobe gets jail for provoking Andrew Square knife fight

A Dorchester man got a 2 1/2-year jail sentence after a Suffolk Superior Court jury convicted him for his role in a 2014 knife fight that ended with him, his victim and a third person stabbed.

On Tuesday, the jury found Steven Sudler, 38, guilty of assault and battery to intimidate causing injury and violating his victim’s civil rights while causing injury, but acquitted him on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. The jury found a companion, David Guante, 25, guilty of assault and battery to intimidate causing injury, but acquitted him on a civil-rights charge. He was sentenced to six months house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation.

According to prosecutors:

On the evening of Aug. 3, 2014, the 31-year-old male victim was walking through a Dorchester Avenue parking lot on his way to Andrew MBTA station when Sudler and Guante began shouting homophobic slurs at him from a parked vehicle. Sudler and Guante then exited the vehicle and approached the victim from behind; [Assistant District Attorney Ryan] Mingo introduced evidence that Sudler was armed with a knife, prompting the victim to draw a knife of his own.

A brief physical altercation occurred, in which the victim suffered a stab wound to his left hand. After the men separated, they continued to exchange words even once the victim had crossed Dorchester Avenue.

A woman also wound up cut in the incident.