LEONARDTOWN — A Leonardtown man convicted by a jury in a domestic violence case will spend eight years behind bars under a sentence that totals the most prison time Maryland law allows for the two crimes.
Shawn Michael Clarke, 44, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with eight years of active incarceration, St. Mary’s County State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling announced Nov. 10. The case grew out of an October 2025 incident that prosecutors described as domestic violence.
A St. Mary’s County jury found Clarke guilty of second-degree assault and motor vehicle theft in May after a two-day trial. Circuit Court Judge Amy Lorenzini presided.
The 15-year figure matches the combined statutory maximums. Under Maryland’s Criminal Law Article, second-degree assault is a misdemeanor that carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500. Motor vehicle theft is a felony punishable by up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000.
The difference between the 15-year sentence and the eight years Clarke was ordered to serve is suspended time, which a judge can impose later if a defendant violates the conditions of release. The state’s attorney’s announcement did not say how long Clarke will be on probation or whether he received credit for time already served.
Sterling’s office released no details of the incident itself and did not identify the victim. Sterling said the victim showed “great strength in confronting her abuser” and that her office would keep working to see that victims are heard and protected.
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Pettersen, chief of the office’s Domestic Violence Unit, prosecuted the case. Deputy Nathaniel Morrison of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office was the lead investigator.
The sentence is the latest in a run of domestic violence prosecutions the office has taken to trial. In 2025, a Lexington Park man received a life sentence for a domestic violence attack, one of two life terms the county’s Circuit Court handed down in abuse cases that summer.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 at any hour. In an emergency, call 911.
