AVOCA, NY (WENY) -- An Avoca man has pleaded guilty to an assault charge in Steuben County court, just as his trial was set to begin.

According to the Steuben County District Attorney's office, Terry C. Long, Jr., 51, pleaded guilty Tuesday to first degree Assault, connected to the 2023 shooting of his wife at their home.

According to New York State Police, troopers responded to a 911 call at a home on Wagner Hill Road in Avoca for a report of a woman with a gunshot wound to the face. District Attorney Brooks Baker says Long claimed another person had been the shooter, but statements from victim, along with the investigation proved that false. 

Tuesday in court, Long had been sworn in as his trial was set to begin. DA Baker said Long admitted to the judge that the night of December 13, 2023 he was arguing with his wife at their home, and he intentionally shot her in the face with a 12 gauge shotgun, loaded with buckshot. The victim survived, and is credited with working with law enforcement and prosecutors in the case. 

Long also waived his right to appeal; he now faces a sentence of nine and a half years in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April.