A man who pleaded guilty in the attack of a brewpub owner is out of jail until sentencing, confounding the victim.
The afternoon of June 29, 27-year-old Gregory Gibson entered Valor Brewpub in Barracks Row, pulled a gun on owner Gaynor Jablonski and punched him in front of Jablonski’s 4-year-old son. He was arrested at the scene and offered a deal within days.
On Monday, Gibson pleaded guilty to attempted assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a pistol without a license.
“There was no attempted assault,” Jablonski argues. “There was assault. There was no dangerous weapon. It was a deadly weapon, alright? And not only did he have an unregistered firearm, but it was loaded. And then, just the cherry on top, there’s a minor, a 4-year-old sitting right here.”
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After the plea on Monday, Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz released Gibson until sentencing Sept. 8 on the condition he wears an electronic monitoring bracelet.
According to a court transcript, the prosecutor described the assault but never showed the security video of the incident. The video was never mentioned in the hearing.
“It made no sense to me why the prosecutor wouldn’t just show the video, like, here your honor, here is why he shouldn’t be let out,” Jablonski said.
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The defense attorney told Leibovitz the incident was an anomaly and doesn’t reflect who Gibson is, according to the transcript. The defense said Gibson has no criminal record, has a master’s degree and as recently as spring was teaching children in middle school.
The prosecutor asked the judge to keep Gibson in jail.
“This is a defendant who, as your honor noted, pulled a gun out in the presence of a 4-year-old,” the prosecutor said. “He has his own 4-year-old child. He should know how dangerous that is to pull a gun out in front of a 4-year-old child. And then after he pointed the gun, he then physically attacked the victim.”
But the judge was not swayed.
“The reality is that with Mr. Gibson’s record, I will be asked to consider probation in this case,” Leibovitz said. “Even the government, I would bet a $100 million, is going to, at the very worst, ask for a split sentence. And so, I do need to see how Mr. Gibson does on release in order to consider my sentence in this case.”
“Oh, it’s the most disturbing part of this entire thing,” Jablonski said.
“The whole thing is absurd,” he said.
A spokesman for the court said under the judicial code, Leibovitz is precluded from commenting on cases.
Gibson’s attorney did not respond to several attempts to get comment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed it wanted Gibson to remain in custody.
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