A former Marietta Borough councilwoman will serve five years' probation for stabbing a teenage relative last year, a local judge ordered.

Peggy Ann Brewer, 66, pleaded no contest last week to a single count of felony aggravated assault, court records show.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors downgraded the original first-degree felony count to a second-degree felony. The original count carried a maximum 20-year prison penalty, upon conviction.

By pleading no contest, Brewer doesn't admit to the alleged facts, but concedes there is ample evidence to convict her at trial. A no-contest plea essentially has the same legal effect as a straight guilty plea.

Police charged Brewer in November with stabbing a 17-year-old female family member at their home on June 25.

According to an arrest affidavit, the two had been arguing, and Brewer "sliced" the girl twice in the stomach with a black-handled kitchen knife. The girl suffered two deep vertical lacerations, one 4 inches long and the other 2 inches, the affidavit shows.

Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Megan King said the second-degree felony — causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon — fits the crime.

"That is the outcome we would have pursued at trial," King said, noting first-degree aggravated assault requires, by law, "serious bodily injury or intent to cause it."

The victim refused medical treatment, police reported.

Brewer was appointed to her seat on Marietta Borough Council in March 2007 to fill a vacancy when councilman Sam Wiggins unexpectedly stepped down. She lost her re-election bid in 2011.

Police haven't disclosed Brewer's specific relation to the victim. As part of the sentence, Judge James Cullen ordered that Brewer have no contact with the girl.

The plea arrangement was worked out on the eve of trial.

Brewer had been free on unsecured bail since being charged.

bhambright@lnpnews.com