Nearly four months after his conviction for multiple crimes, 90 Day Fiancé alum Geoffrey Paschel was sentenced to 18 years in prison without possibility of parole.
The former reality star, 44, received his sentence on Thursday, February 3, during a court appearance in Knoxville, Tennessee. He had been held in custody since October 2021, when he was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, domestic assault and interference with emergency calls.
Paschel was arrested after a June 2019 incident involving his ex-fiancée, Kristen Wilson. After police responded to a domestic disturbance, Wilson told officers that Paschel assaulted her in her home. He allegedly grabbed her by the neck and slammed her head against a wall several times, then threw her to the floor and dragged her. Wilson claimed that the TLC personality took her cell phone and refused to let her leave the house, but she escaped to a neighbor’s place once Paschel was asleep.
After the incident, Wilson was diagnosed with a concussion, and officers reported seeing bruises and abrasions on her body. During the trial, Paschel claimed that Wilson’s injuries were self-inflicted.
Paschel appeared on season 4 of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, which aired in 2020. He got engaged to Varya Malina on the show, but he was not asked to attend the tell-all taping because of his legal issues.
“I’m not sad that I wasn’t on it,” he said during an Instagram Live in June 2020. “The mentality of keeping me off the tell-all because somebody said something is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard in my life. … I want my court case to be over with, and as soon as my court case is over with, then my life will proceed.”
Malina, 33, hasn’t confirmed whether she and Paschel are still together, but she was present at his sentencing on Thursday. She has also kept in touch with him throughout his incarceration, sharing updates about his needs with her social media followers.
“Last night while talking on the phone Geo mentioned that he’s using this time now to finally slow down and reevaluate what’s important in his life and focus on it,” the Russia native wrote via Instagram in December 2021. “He always sees positive aspects in everything that happens in his life. We are so alike in this exact way.”
That same month, the wedding planner responded to a follower who asked why she wouldn’t confirm whether she and Paschel had gotten married. “This is a great question,” she said in an Instagram video. “And the answer is that I am annoying.” In a written caption, she added, “I still can’t and have zero desire to discuss the legal case.”
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
