She told a Franklin County judge yesterday that her flashbacks of the night she was nearly strangled by a stranger in a Worthington hotel room are "so real, I've found myself gasping for breath."

She told a Franklin County judge yesterday that her flashbacks of the night she was nearly strangled by a stranger in a Worthington hotel room are �so real, I�ve found myself gasping for breath.�

Then she begged Judge Richard S. Sheward to imprison her attacker.

�The only way I can move on with my life is to know that Nicholas Porreca is not able to get to me,� the 34-year-old woman said as she sobbed in Common Pleas Court. �Please hold him accountable for his heinous actions.�

Sheward complied, sentencing Nicholas L. Porreca II to seven years in prison.

�She would have, and should have, felt like he was trying to take her life,� Sheward said.

Porreca, 33, of W. 3rd Street in Marysville, pleaded guilty in November to felonious assault. Charges of attempted murder and kidnapping were dismissed in the plea deal.

He apologized to his victim in court yesterday.

�I don�t blame you for any of this,� he said. �You will never see me again after today.�

The June 17 incident began after Porreca and the woman struck up a conversation as they were smoking outside the Holiday Inn at 7007 N. High St. The woman was to be in a friend�s wedding the next day.

Porreca told the woman that he was involved in a wine-tasting event and invited her to his room to get information about the business.

Once inside, Porreca attacked her.

According to Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Rausch, he put the woman in a chokehold, tried to strangle her with a lamp cord and plastic bag and hit her with a lamp.

Rausch said the woman suffered an eye injury and broke a finger trying to yank his hands from her neck.

Sallynda Rothchild Dennison, Porreca�s attorney, said her client told her he panicked when the victim entered his room. She said he was trying to get her to leave and keep her quiet when he put his arm around her neck and a cord around her mouth.

Porreca had been using cocaine and was not fully aware of what he was doing, she said.

Sheward didn�t buy the argument.

�This is violence,� he said. �Let me underscore that. It�s not a misunderstanding.�

kgray@dispatch.com