URBANA — A Champaign man convicted of beating his wife was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.

In May, a Champaign County jury convicted Stephen B. Crouse, 51, who last lived in the 800 block of Sedgegrass Drive, of domestic battery with a prior domestic battery conviction. The jury found that he hit his wife in the face and the back of the head during an argument at their home March 19.

Rita Crouse was also the victim in her husband's 2008 case, in which he was convicted of felony domestic battery.

Crouse's attorney argued for a community-based sentence that would allow him to get help for his alcoholism. But Judge Heidi Ladd, noting that Crouse had several other opportunities for treatment, told Crouse that his alcoholism was "not a get-out-of-jail-free card."

Besides the domestic battery convictions, court records indicate Crouse also has convictions for robbery, theft, burglary, aggravated driving under the influence, deceptive practices and disorderly conduct.

— In an unrelated case before Ladd, Assistant State's Attorney Troy Lozar dismissed a robbery charge against Jyshawn Jackson, 20, of Alsip because the victim of a robbery that occurred Jan. 30 in Rantoul declined to cooperate with the state's attorney's office. In May, Lozar also dismissed a robbery charge against co-defendant Steve Moffett, 19, of Rantoul.