DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man accused of trying to kill his estranged wife has been sentenced to 25 years in an Iowa prison. The Telegraph Herald reports that 51-year-old Clifford Smiley was sentenced Monday. He’d entered an Alford plea to a charge of attempted murder. In an Alford plea, a person doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a likely conviction.

Prosecutors say Smiley stabbed his estranged wife in a Dubuque store parking lot on April 1. Last month Judge Michael Shubatt refused to consider Smiley’s guilty plea after Smiley wouldn’t admit in court that he tried to kill the woman. Smiley had made a plea deal with prosecutors.