Post Falls Man Gets Up to 15 Years for Attempted Strangulation
A Post Falls man received the maximum 15-year sentence after choking a woman and swinging a machete at her, then writing letters from jail urging her to skip court.
Joey L. Gray Jr. choked a woman, swung a machete at her, fled the scene, and then spent months in jail trying to make sure she never testified against him. First District Judge John Cafferty decided that record earned the maximum punishment available.
Cafferty sentenced Gray, 40, of Post Falls, to 15 years in prison with parole eligibility after six years. Gray had pleaded guilty in January to attempted strangulation, attempted witness intimidation, violating a no-contact order and attempting to violate a no-contact order.
The charges stem from September 2025, when prosecutors say Gray choked a woman and then swung a machete at her before fleeing. Police arrested Gray four days after the incident and immediately served him with a no-contact order prohibiting him from reaching the woman or her children.
Gray did not stop there. Prosecutors said he arranged for family members to contact the woman in an effort to influence or deter her testimony. He also wrote letters directly to the woman and her children from jail, prosecutors said, "imploring them to get him out of jail" and advising the woman to skip court and ignore law enforcement.
Those post-arrest actions added the witness intimidation and no-contact violations to the charges he ultimately admitted committing.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse can reach Safe Passage around the clock by calling 208-664-9303 or texting 208-449-7228.
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