TALLAHASSEE, FL—Robert W. McCandless, 38, of Bristol, Florida, was sentenced to 151 months in prison today for interstate domestic violence and interstate violation of a protection order. The sentence was announced by Christopher P. Canova, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

During his guilty plea on July 9, 2015, McCandless admitted to violating a protection order by unlawfully entering the victim’s residence on January 16, 2015. McCandless and the victim had lived together previously for approximately five years and had two children. After strangling the victim with a communications cord and assaulting the victim, McCandless forced her and their children to travel with him out of Florida. Approximately eight hours later, law enforcement agents arrested McCandless, rescuing the victim and her children on Interstate 95 in South Carolina. The victim received medical treatment for injuries consistent with strangulation.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen M. Kunz.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. The office strives to protect and serve the citizens of the Northern District of Florida through the ethical, vigorous, and impartial enforcement of the laws of the United States, to defend the national security, to improve the safety and quality of life in our communities through the protection of civil rights, and to protect the public funds and financial assets of the United States. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.