By John Speer Editor Jspeer@tamatoledonews.com In a ruling handed down last week the Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions and prison sentence of Noelle Courtney Youngbear. Youngbear entered a guilty plea to 2nd degree burglary and an Alford plea to two counts of willful injury causing bodily injury. According to the court record, the charges stem from an early morning fight on Nov. 3, 2013. According to court records, Youngbear accompanied two others to a home 200 block of Meskwaki Road to confront a person whom Youngbear’s friend had been in an altercation with earlier at a birthday party. She allegedly assaulted two occupants of the home with a wrench. Youngbear was injured herself, and airlifted to Iowa City hospitals following the fight which broke out among the women. After being charged and entering the pleas, Youngbear was sentenced to 10 years for burglary and five years on each of the assault charges with all to be served concurrently. In her appeal, the record states, “Youngbear claims she received ineffective assistance because her defense counsel “pushed her into pleading guilty with assurances she would receive a deferred sentence and ultimately the charges would be expunged from her record.” She states her pleas were not made voluntarily and intelligently.” She also charged her sentence was “cruel and unusual punishment.” However, the Court found the record in the case did not support her contentions and the injuries she suffered were not relevant to the sentence.