An Austin man has been sent to prison for 36 months after violating his probation.

Antonio Pitchford, 30, was sent to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud on Thursday.

Pitchford was taken into custody the night of Oct. 8 after an officer was alerted that he had been consuming alcohol, which is a violation of his probation terms.

The officer arrived at Paradise Island in downtown Austin to find Pitchford exiting the bar out the back door. Pitchford admitted to the officer that he was on probation but denied consuming any alcohol that night.

The officer administered a preliminary breath test on Pitchford and found his blood alcohol content to be .127 percent.

Pitchford was initially convicted in August of making terroristic threats. Three other counts against him at that time – third-degree assault, felony domestic assault and domestic assault by strangulation – were dismissed.

On July 14, Austin police responded to a call about a domestic assault. Upon arrival, the female victim was holding her left arm and appeared to be in pain. Officers observed blood on her shirt collar, a cut on her chin and red marks on her neck and throat.

According to the court complaint, the woman said Pitchford had thrown her on a bed, then grabbed her neck with two hands and told her he was going to knock all her teeth out. The woman said she could not breath while Pitchford choked her.

The woman went to Austin Medical Center that night and her mother later reported to police that she had a broken arm from the incident. The doctor who treated her classified the injury as “substantial bodily harm.”

Pitchford has been convicted in the past of violating an order for protection and fifth-degree assault while violating an order for protection.