Second plea deal reduces prison time

In a second sentencing before a different judge, a member of the youth mob that beat a Strip resort employee got only half as much prison time as he did the first time he was sentenced in the same case.

With his trial set to begin Tuesday, As'Ryen Brown, 19, accepted his second plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of battery resulting in substantial bodily harm Tuesday. District Judge David Barker then sentenced Brown to 12 to 30 months in prison.

Brown had pleaded guilty to the same count in December, but when it came time for his sentencing, in July, Senior District Judge James A. Brennan, substituting for Barker, decided not to follow the sentence recommended under the first plea bargain that had been hashed out by prosecutors and Brown's lawyers.

Brown had expected to be sentenced to probation, but Brennan's sentence wasn't anything close to probation; he gave the teen a two- to five-year prison term, the maximum sentence possible.

When Barker returned to the bench, he granted Brown's request to withdraw his guilty plea and agreed to allow the case to proceed to trial on the original charges, including battery, coercion and conspiracy.

Video surveillance cameras outside the MGM Grand's parking garage captured Brown participating in the beating of MGM Grand evening maintenance supervisor, Richard Markwell Jr. in April 2006. Brown can be seen whipping Markwell with his belt as other members in the group of about 20 teens kicked, punched and whipped Markwell.

When he gave Brown the maximum penalty, Brennan referred to the national broadcast of the beating and said Brown and the other attackers looked like "a pack of wild animals attacking."

"I'm very proud of my grandson," 59-year-old Lois Rogers said of Brown Tuesday. "They called him a dog, a wild animal, but he stood up like a man today, exactly as he was taught."

Rogers, who lives in Denver, said she prays every day for Richard Markwell's recovery.

Markwell, who was expected to testify at Brown's trial this week, was not in court Tuesday. A baseball fan and coach, the 25-year-old suffered permanent damage to his right arm from the beating and is about to have another surgery on his shoulder, his mother said.

"It really makes him sick to testify," Dorothy Markwell said.

She began to cry as she described how simple tasks such as moving a chair, or picking up their "wiener dog" cause her son pain and how proud she is of how stoically he handles his suffering and he continues to be successful at his job.

She and her husband said the second plea deal and shorter sentence were fine with them; they were grateful that the case was finally over.

"He's still going to get a felony," she said.

The couple said they hoped every time Brown fills out a job application he is forced to explain the felony on his record and what he did to their son.

Richard Markwell Sr. said he doesn't think Brown or any of his codefendants care about the damage they did to their victim.

"They don't realize he's going up for another surgery," Markwell said of his son. "They ruined his arm for a lifetime."

The Markwell family attended most of the hearings for the eight teens prosecuted in District Court in connection with Markwell's beating or in connection with other crimes committed as part of their spree around the Las Vegas Valley that Easter weekend, including a shooting at Pioneer Park.

Brown, who has received his high school diploma since his arrest, was the first to turn himself into Las Vegas police, before they knew who he was, at the urging of his family.

"This kid was honest to a fault, all the way from the very beginning," said one of Brown's lawyers, Dayvid Figler.

Parents of other defendants have labeled Brown "a snitch," but prosecutor Victoria Villegas complained that Brown's testimony against codefendant Jamar Rice was not as forthcoming as his confession to police.

"He did not help me at all," said Villegas, who secured a five- to 15-year sentence for Rice.

Villegas did not oppose probation at Brown's first sentencing, but she didn't recommend it either, and the first plea agreement did not bind the judge to any particular sentence.

Likewise, Barker was not required to follow the sentencing recommendation worked out in the second plea bargain, but he did.

"I feel in searching for that point where justice is served, you going to prison is appropriate," Barker told Brown. "When you act out in manners consistent with this type of behavior, there are consequences."

Brown's uncle, grandmother and great-grandmother impressed upon the teenager the seriousness of his predicament in court and urged him to accept responsibility for his actions and not cause any trouble while in prison.

His 80-year-old great-grandmother, Gloria Wright, told him: "Learn something while you're in there."

Contact reporter K.C. Howard at khoward@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.