Terry Meggitt, who could have died in a violent knife attack in his Oakdale house last summer, on Friday said he hoped his attacker could get a second chance in life.

"A confused kid," is how Meggitt described Anthony Joseph Nasseff, 18, who was sentenced Friday in Washington County District Court to a minimum of six years and eight months in prison.

Meggitt, 53, was cut in the head, face, chest and arm and has permanent loss of function in his right hand from fending off Nasseff's blows. He told Judge Mary Hannon that he has permanent minimal use of his fingers and no longer can bowl, golf or perform other functions that require a grip.

Meggitt also told the judge that he thought the sentence was appropriate and thanked both attorneys -- prosecutor Heather Pipenhagen and defense counsel Sean Linnan -- for bringing the case to a reasonable conclusion.

"I just hope the outcome is that he does become a good citizen," Meggitt said of Nasseff.

Meggitt's son Daniel, now 18, received a similar prison sentence in April for his part in the bizarre plot that involved beating, or even killing, Terry Meggitt over a dispute involving a bicycle.

Hannon called the incident in Meggitt's house "an ambush-style attack" and told Nasseff that "it's clear you've harmed him significantly and permanently."

"To Terry Meggitt, my most sincere apologies," Nasseff said in court Friday. The judge reminded Nasseff that he would still be a young man when he gets out of prison, and that he should use the time behind bars to reverse a dysfunctional life that started in childhood.

Defense attorney Linnan said that Nasseff was sent to 10 foster homes, grew up in a culture of drinking and drugs, and suffered considerable abuse as a juvenile.

"Nothing but dysfunction behind him and no future," is how he described Nasseff.

Hannon ordered that Nasseff register as a predatory offender and said he never can own a firearm.

After the sentencing, Meggitt said that when the attack began inside his home in August, he first thought the masked attacker was his son, fooling around.

Nasseff, wielding a long knife, inflicted 25 lacerations on Meggitt.

Kevin Giles • 612-673-4432