Andrew Hoy

A Butler County Prison inmate is accused of repeatedly calling his girlfriend in hopes she would help him get out of his latest trouble with the law.

Instead, Andrew J. Hoy, 23, of Butler finds himself in deeper trouble.

Butler County detectives Wednesday charged Hoy with a felony count of intimidation of a witness stemming from nine jailhouse phone calls between Jan. 22 and 24.

Hoy began his latest stint behind bars on Jan. 17, when he was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend to near unconsciousness during a domestic dispute at their apartment on West Jefferson Street.

The victim told police that Hoy grabbed her by the throat, threw her on the bed and strangled her. Officers said the woman suffered injuries to her neck and face during the altercation.

Hoy was arraigned on felony charges of aggravated assault and strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple assault, and placed in the county prison on $75,000 bail.

Five days later, investigators said, he made his first jailhouse call to the victim. More would follow.

In the calls, which are recorded by the jail in a policy that is known to inmates, Hoy is heard telling his girlfriend what to say at his upcoming preliminary hearing “to get the charges thrown out,” documents said.

A detective who reviewed the recorded calls, said the couple “discussed the severity of the most recent argument, how they were both drinking and how they wished the police were not involved.”

Additionally, they talked about her injuries sustained in the domestic and the court order that prohibited Hoy from contacting her.

During the calls, the victim advises Hoy that she is afraid that the prosecutor in the assault case is aware of their recorded conversations.

“Inmate Hoy tells (her) to calm down and that he has been through all of this before,” documents said. He also tells her, “You need to start listening to me! Tell judge you want it dropped!”

His preliminary hearing in the case, court records showed, has been continued three times. It is set for Feb. 26 before District Judge William Fullerton.

Hoy is already awaiting trial in connection with two other felony cases, including a domestic assault last year involving a different woman in Butler.

In that case, Hoy is accused of threatening his then-girlfriend with a knife after punching and choking her May 17, 2017, city police said.

He was arrested the next month and charged with threatening the woman's brother with a knife.

Detective David Aldridge, in the most recent criminal complaint against Hoy, noted that the defendant “has shown a serious disregard for the safety of victims” in all his cases.

He also has “displayed a pattern of aggressive behavior,” Aldridge said, “having been criminally charged three times (since 2017) involving two different female companions.”