Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Darieo St. Leger, 35, of Islip Terrace, was sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty in November 2023 to Assault in the First Degree, for slashing a bouncer with a sharp object at a bar in Huntington.
“The victim survived a vicious attack by this defendant just for doing his job, and he will continue to face a difficult recovery,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This lengthy prison sentence sends a clear message that in Suffolk County, we will hold violent offenders accountable. Thank you to the Suffolk County Police Department and the United States Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force for bringing this defendant to justice.”
According to the investigation and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on October 23, 2022, about approximately 12:40 a.m., at a bar in Huntington, St. Leger got into an argument with the bouncer who was not allowing St. Leger into the bar. St. Leger then slashed the bouncer across the face, from ear to mouth, with a sharp object. The slash caused an artery in the victim’s cheek to be severed. St. Leger fled the scene after the attack.
The victim was rushed to Huntington Hospital to undergo lifesaving emergency surgery which included multiple blood transfusions. The victim had difficulty hearing out of his left ear and was unable to blink out of his left eye, so he was required to undergo an immediate second surgery to reattach a nerve ending that was severed during the attack. He also sustained a scar along the entire left side of his face.
Law enforcement discovered St. Leger had absconded to Virginia, and with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, he was brought back to New York and arrested at LaGuardia Airport in December 2022.
On November 28, 2023, St. Leger pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Anthony S. Senft, Jr., to Assault in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony.
On August 8, 2024, Justice Senft sentenced St. Leger to 12 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. St. Leger was represented by John Halverson, Esq.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Patrick E. Fedun of the Major Crime Bureau with investigative assistance from Detective Brandon Reiber of the Suffolk County Police Department’s First Squad and Detective Thomas Corso of the United States Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.