A 26-year-old St. Charles man has pleaded guilty to stabbing a man in April during an argument at a party.

Garrett C. Ginn, 26, 213 W. Main St., pleaded guilty June 12 to armed violence for the melee, which took place at 4 a.m. April 16 on the 300 block of South Fourth St. He was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in state prison.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to drop aggravated battery and battery charges. Kane County Associate Judge Allen Anderson approved the plea deal.

At the party, Ginn and a 24-year-old man got into a fight that began inside an apartment and spilled out onto the lawn, authorities said. During the fracas, Ginn slashed the man across the face with a knife with a 2 1/2-inch locking blade and stabbed him in the chest.

The man was taken to Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva, where he received nine stitches to close his chest wound.

Ginn knew the man, but they were not friends, said Paul McCurtain, a spokesman for the St. Charles Police Department.

During the fight Ginn also punched a woman in the face, witnesses told police.

Ginn ran away from the house before police arrived. Officers searched the area and did not find him, but the knife was found at the scene.

Police put out a description of Ginn, and just after 4:30 a.m., Geneva police found him walking on the first block of East State Street and took him into custody.

Ginn must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole. He will receive credit for time served in the Kane County Jail.

Assistant state’s attorney Dan Carter prosecuted the case.