A farmworker was sentenced this week to three months in jail, followed by all-but-certain deportation, for tearing a woman's clothes during an assault in a berry field.

Francisco Juan Diego Esteban, 32, was working with the woman on July 29 at a berry farm east of Lynden. He was driving a berry picker while she sorted berries. She tried to get his attention to help her lift a 55-gallon drum. The machine was loud, so she threw a handful of berries at him.

Diego Esteban charged her. She held onto the berry picker as he tried to pull her away, ripping her clothes.

The woman felt like she was going to be raped, according to charging documents. Prosecutors weren't sure they could prove that was Diego Esteban's intent, so they reached a plea deal in which he was convicted of second-degree assault.

Because of the felony conviction, it's "very, very likely" he will be deported, said Deputy Prosecutor Eric Richey.

Diego Esteban had no criminal history.