The woman who reportedly convinced her boyfriend to stab a man in the abdomen will serve up to 10 years in prison, a judge ruled Thursday.

Courtney McCoy

Courtesy of the WCSO

Courtney McCoy, 21, will serve between two years and two months and 10 years in prison on both a count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and conspiracy to commit assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. She also was sentenced to serve between two years and two months and five years in prison for a charge of carrying a weapon with unlawful intent.

McCoy pleaded no contest to all three charges in April. In court Thursday, McCoy apologized to the victim, who she was friendly with before the incident.

“I know I’m responsible for the part I had in this case,” McCoy said. “I send my sincere apologies to the victim. We had a great relationship prior to this case.”

McCoy and her boyfriend Dorian Johnson will both be serving up to 10 years in prison for the alcohol-fueled stabbing that took place about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 9.

Galien Foster, 22, was in his apartment in the 400 block of South First Street in Ann Arbor when he heard a knock and got up to answer the door. On the other side was Johnson, who stabbed Foster in a horizontal motion across his abdomen, according to his testimony at Johnson’s sentencing.

Dorian Johnson

Courtesy of WCSO

Foster walked “with my guts in my hands” to the BP gas station at the corner of William and South Main streets. Police and medical personnel were called to the gas station and Foster was taken to the hospital. It took three major surgeries for Foster to fully heal.

McCoy’s sentencing hearing Thursday was a tearful affair. Many of her friends and family members were in Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge David Swartz’s courtroom and they became very emotional as her sentence was read out.

The incident was McCoy’s first contact with the criminal justice system and out of character, said James Gallagher, her attorney. He asked for a bottom-of-the-guidelines sentence for McCoy because of her history of good behavior and the fact that she is pregnant.

Gallagher said McCoy is truly apologetic for the whole incident and has expressed her remorse to him many times.

“She is truly thankful Mr. Foster was able to recover from the injuries that he suffered,” Gallagher said.

Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Blake Hatlem called McCoy the instigator of the incident. At Johnson’s sentencing, Erika Julien — Johnson’s attorney — said McCoy urged Johnson to stab Foster while Johnson was intoxicated and stuck the knife into his hand.

It’s still not clear what type of dispute was going on between Foster and McCoy that led to the stabbing. In court Thursday, McCoy said she never had the intention to hurt Foster.

However, his injuries were so severe that Foster nearly died, Hatlem said.

“This could have been a murder case,” he said, asking for a top-of-the-guidelines sentence.

The plea deal accepted by McCoy saw her plead no contest to the three charges while charges of assault with intent to murder, conspiracy to commit assault with intent to murder, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, assault with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon were all dropped.

She received credit for 82 days previously served in jail. Her sentences will all run concurrent.

“The prosecution’s theory is that this wouldn’t have occurred without the actions of this defendant,” Swartz said just before sentencing McCoy.

Before she was led away to be cuffed and taken to prison, McCoy said the incident was not reflective of who she is.

“I hung out with the wrong people and … got caught up and was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.