GREENFIELD — A Southbridge man was sentenced on Friday to time served and two years’ probation after changing his plea on four charges related to a 2023 incident in which a man was stabbed in Orange before the assailants led police on a high-speed chase that ended in Belchertown.

Juan G. Rodriguez, 34, appeared in Franklin County Superior Court to plead guilty to two counts of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and single counts of accessory after the fact and leaving the scene of property damage.

After learning of Rodriguez’s efforts to overcome substance abuse, Judge Jane Mulqueen decided not to adopt the recommended seven-month jail sentence and instead ordered two years’ probation. Rodriquez was incarcerated for seven months after his March 2023 arrest.

Co-defendant Ali Ayala was scheduled to appear in court as well but he reportedly was not transported from a facility holding him on unrelated charges. A trial for the third co-defendant, Alex Santana, is set to begin in Superior Court on Monday morning.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas explained that the victim called 911 in the area of North Main Street and Cross Road in Orange in the early hours of March 20, 2023, while fleeing from assailants he said were trying to kill him. The victim reported being beaten and bloodied, and the dispatcher heard people calling out the victim’s name to find him. Officers responded and were assessing the victim’s condition when a minivan occupied the victim’s assailants sped by.

Officers reportedly noticed Ayala driving the minivan and pursued it in their cruisers. The minivan, Thomas said, went as fast as 100 mph until crashing into a fence in Belchertown. The three men fled but were apprehended. It was later determined that Rodriguez replaced Ayala in the driver’s seat at some point during the pursuit.

An investigation revealed that the three defendants were smoking marijuana and socializing with the victim when longstanding animosity between Santana and the victim boiled over. Santana allegedly struck the man in the back of the head with the butt of a knife before the man escaped and called 911.

Rodriguez, who was staying with Ayala and Santana, was sleeping in the backseat during the attack, which woke him up. He then helped Ayala and Santana search for the victim after he ran away.

Mulqueen spoke with Rodriguez and confirmed he was pleading guilty voluntarily based on defense attorney David Simanski’s advice.

“I am confident that there is sufficient evidence to prove my client guilty at trial,” Simanski told Mulqueen. “I have no reason that I am currently aware of that … you should not accept my client’s guilty plea.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.