ITHACA, NY (CortacaToday) — An Ithaca man will spend three decades in prison.

Tompkins County DA Matt Van Houten (photo by Joe Salzone)

Tompkins County District Attorney Matt Van Houten says Arthur Harriet was sentenced Thursday on 2023 charges of kidnapping, assault, and robbery. Last September, the 49-year-old assaulted two men with a machete and held them against their will in a dog crate.

In a separate indictment, Van Houten says Harriet pleaded guilty last month to criminal possession of a controlled substance after he was caught in October 2023 with 3.6 ounces of meth in his underwear.

Harriet was sentenced to 30 years in state prison in the robbery and kidnapping case and six years in the drug case, though it will be served concurrently.

“The imposition of such a severe sentence is not something that anyone in the Tompkins County justice system takes lightly,” Van Houten said. “The evidence in the trial was overwhelming proof that Arthur Harriett’s crimes were specifically heinous and cruel and were committed against two vulnerable members of this community.  Under the circumstances, the sentence imposed by the Court is appropriate and justified.”