{"id":208727,"date":"2022-04-09T08:42:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T15:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=208727"},"modified":"2022-04-09T17:46:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-10T00:46:02","slug":"las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Strip Fatal Punch Leads to Prison in Retired State Trooper\u2019s Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A one-time boxer who threw a deadly punch last year on the Las Vegas Strip has been sentenced to anywhere between eight and 20 years in prison. The fatal blow led to the death of a 57-year-old retired Connecticut state trooper.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_208730\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-208730\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-208730\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-02-at-2.37.03-PM-142x113.png\" alt=\"Thomas Driscoll, left, and Brandon Leath, right\" width=\"1200\" height=\"955\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-208730\"class=\"text-description\">Thomas Driscoll, left, and Brandon Leath shown above. Leath allegedly threw a fatal punch at Driscoll near the Las Vegas Strip. He was sentenced to prison. (Images: CT State Police Alumni Association (left) and Metro Police)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The sentence for Brandon Leath, 34, was announced Friday by Las Vegas District Judge Michelle Leavitt. She also ordered him to pay restitution.<\/p>\n<p>Leath pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and mayhem in the Feb. 28, 2021 attack on the ex-trooper, Thomas Driscoll. It took place outside of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/man-punched-on-las-vegas-strip-near-casinos-dies-short-time-later\/\">Bally\u2019s Las Vegas Hotel &amp; Casino<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Leath pled not guilty to murder in the case. That charge was later dropped.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;What is so clear here is this wasn\u2019t an accident. This wasn\u2019t just bad luck,\u201d <\/strong>Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Dickerson said in court before the sentencing, the <em>Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> reported. <strong>\u201cThe defendant was seeking out this confrontation. He was seeking out this fight.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Driscoll\u2019s death was determined to be a homicide. An autopsy revealed Driscoll died from a blunt force cranciocervical injury. That is an injury near the base of the skull, the Clark County coroner\u2019s office explained.<\/p>\n<p>The incident began when Leath was with several men on a pedestrian bridge between The Cromwell Las Vegas Hotel &amp; Casino and Bally\u2019s. Driscoll was walking with a woman by the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Initially, Leath commented on the two passersby. He then ran after them and encouraged Driscoll to fight. Leath went to the bottom of an escalator.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>When Driscoll was nearby, Leath punched him once. The impact led Driscoll to fall on his back. A short time later, Driscoll died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Leath soon was apprehended by police officers near The Mirage.<\/p>\n<p>Mace Yampolsky, the attorney representing Leath, argued on Friday his client only punched Driscoll after Driscoll threatened him with a beer bottle, the <em>Review-Journal<\/em> said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\"><p><strong>I think it\u2019s unfortunate that he was sentenced to the maximum,\u201d<\/strong> Yampolsky later told the newspaper. Yampolsky is a criminal defense attorney in Nevada and is a past president of the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But Annie Chong, Driscoll&#8217;s former girlfriend, told <em>KVVU<\/em>, a local TV station, the sentence was insufficient and is \u201ca miscarriage of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Leath Said Someone Stalking Him<\/h2>\n<p>In March 2021, Leath denied any wrongdoing in connection with Driscoll\u2019s death and Leath said he was being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/man-accused-of-las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-claims-he-was-stalked-maintains-innocence\/\">stalked<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been stalked, and there have been people that have been doing a lot of things,\u201d Leath said in Nevada court to a judge shortly after his arrest, according to local news reports<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026This is very serious. This is my life. Ma\u2019am, I did not do anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Prior Convictions<\/h2>\n<p>Leath has been convicted of six prior felonies, the <em>Review-Journal<\/em> said. Most stemmed from thefts in New Jersey. He was registered as a boxer in New York State, the report adds.<\/p>\n<p>Also, following the fatal punch, two unnamed men said that they had tried to report Leath to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, they told <em>KVVU<\/em>, a Nevada TV station. That&#8217;s for an alleged violent attack and other crimes unrelated to Driscoll.<\/p>\n<p>The two men alleged Leath was a \u201cticking time bomb.\u201d Leath allegedly punched one of the two men in a local convenience store near Fremont Street, the TV report said.<\/p>\n<p>The man became unconscious after getting knocked out, the report claims.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>\u201cI have to see a doctor about my possible concussion,\u201d the victim told the TV station. He claims to suffer from headaches and blurred vision, the report adds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A one-time boxer who threw a deadly punch last year on the Las Vegas Strip has been sentenced to anywhere between eight and 20 years in prison. The fatal blow led to the death of a 57-year-old retired Connecticut state trooper. The sentence for Brandon Leath, 34, was announced Friday by Las Vegas District Judge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":208730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Las Vegas Strip Fatal Punch Leads to Prison for Retired Trooper\u2019s Death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The boxer who threw a deadly punch last year on the Las Vegas Strip was sentenced to prison. 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He will spend at least eight years behind bars.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-09T15:42:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-10T00:46:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-02-at-2.37.03-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1324\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1054\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgedsilv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ed Silverstein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Strip Fatal Punch Leads to Prison for Retired Trooper\u2019s Death\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-strip-fatal-punch-leads-to-prison-in-retired-state-troopers-death\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-02-at-2.37.03-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-09T15:42:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-10T00:46:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b3771b02527bcbda9af984b9b1ff098e\"},\"description\":\"The boxer who threw a deadly punch last year on the Las Vegas Strip was sentenced to prison. 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