NORTHAMPTON - A man who admitted to slashing two men with a knife during a domestic dispute was sentenced Tuesday to seven to nine years in state prison.

Gaifill F. Ruiz, 43, of 34 New South St., Apt. B, Northampton, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court to two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of property valued over $250. A charge of home invasion was dismissed on Aug. 2, court records show.

Judge Richard J. Carey imposed the prison sentence, and ordered that Ruiz will serve five years' probation after his release.

Ruiz was given credit for the 343 days he has already served in jail while awaiting trial. He had been held on $5,000 cash bail.

Police said Ruiz broke down the door to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and got into an early morning altercation with his girlfriend's son and the son's friend.

Both men, who are in their 20s, were treated at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. Ruiz was arrested shortly afterward on Main Street.

- ETTA WALSH