AUBURN – Three Lewiston residents were sentenced to a total of nine years in prison Wednesday for a vicious beating that put a volunteer firefighter in a coma for 10 days.

Rob Dumais, who still has blurred vision, headaches and slowed speech from the July 5 attack, sat in the front row of Androscoggin County Superior Court and watched as his assailants – two women and a man – were sentenced, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.

The three pleaded guilty last week in a plea agreement with prosecutors, the newspaper said. Dumais, who is from Lisbon, was jumped and beaten while trying to intervene in a dispute between a clerk and two customers at a convenience store.

Christina Chavez, a 26-year-old mother of three who viciously stomped on Dumais’ head with high-heel boots as he lay twitching on the ground, got five years in prison, followed by six years of probation.

Pressley Neal, a former waiter who delivered the first punch that knocked Dumais unconscious, was sentenced to three years, followed by four years of probation.

Amy Harris, 24, punched Dumais once or twice during the attack and was sentenced to one year in prison, followed by four years of probation.

“These three sentences can’t possibly make up for what Mr. Dumais has gone through,” said Justice Ellen Gorman. “Unfortunately, no sentence can.”

Because the sentences were negotiated as part of plea agreements, Dumais knew when he arrived at the courthouse how much time each of his assailants would likely get.

Still, he wanted to be there. Sitting in the front row of the courtroom with his parents and grandmother, he said, “I’m here for the show.”

As Gorman called the defendants to the stand, he leaned forward with his hands on his knees. He cried twice – when his father told the judge how difficult the ordeal has been on the family, and when Neal turned around, looked him in the eyes and apologized.