A Delaware man is going to prison for two to ten years for a beating that left a West Virginia University student comatose.

Austin Vantrease's lawyer had sought to have the 19-year-old Newark, Delaware resident sent to a youthful offender program or sentenced to six months in county jail.

Monongalia County Circuit Judge Russell Clawges Jr. rejected the proposal Monday because of the violence of the assault and the catastrophic injuries suffered by Ryan Diviney in November 2009.

The Dominion Post reports the 21 year old remains comatose at his family home in Ashburn, Virginia.

Vantrease was convicted of malicious assault last July. Co-defendant Jonathan May is serving a one-year sentence for misdemeanor battery. The 19-year-old May also is from Newark.

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