Nicholas Tweiten (photo: Cass County Jail)
FARGO (KFGO) – After pleading guilty last month to a felony charge of terrorizing and a misdemeanor domestic violence charge stemming from a July 2023 incident at his home, a former Shanley assistant baseball coach has been sentenced to serve ten days in the Cass County Jail followed by two years of probation.
37-year-old Nicholas Tweiten apologized to his wife in court, saying the incident that led to his arrest at their home was “without a doubt the lowest and darkest moment” of his life, and that he was seeking weekly counseling.
Tweiten also apologized to the three police officers who responded to the domestic violence call at his home. Tweiten allegedly struck his wife multiple times and pointed a loaded handgun at her after a night of drinking last summer. The incident report said she had a visible injury when officers arrived and that Tweiten, who was cooperative, admitted to hitting his wife and getting a gun, but denied pointing the weapon at her.
Tweiten said he was working to repair the trust he had broken with everyone in his life, and lamented he would never be able to coach again.
“I love those kids and coaching them was one of my greatest joys,” he said.
East Central District Court Judge Nicholas Chase called the case “awful and terrifying,” but he said that he believed Tweiten understood the gravity of what he’d done.
Tweiten’s attorney Pat O’Day asked the court for no jail time. Judge Chase told Tweiten that “nobody gets a free pass,” but said he took into account several letters attesting to his strength of character, including from former co-workers – a Shanley coach who wrote about Tweiten’s skills coaching baseball to kids, as well as a city of Fargo employee who Tweiten supported when she went through addiction treatment.
Tweiten’s wife Kelly provided a tearful but supportive victim statement in court and pleaded with the judge not to impose any jail time.
“He is one of the most caring people I know,” she said, adding that she would rely on her husband’s support as she deals with her own mental struggles.
The ten-day sentence imposed by Judge Chase fell far short of the nearly four-month sentence the assistant state’s attorney called for in the case.
Tweiten was also ordered to forfeit the gun he had in his possession at the time of the incident.
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