A Massachusetts man who pleaded guilty in December to manslaughter at a poker tournament after “sucker punching” a fellow player who he mistakenly thought had insulted his girlfriend received 2-3 years in prison for the crime during a Tuesday sentencing hearing.
James Walsh, 41, admitted to striking 45-year-old Daniel McDonald on the night of Mar. 16, 2012. It was during a poker event at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in Southbridge. McDonald died eight days later at a hospital from his skull and brain injuries.
The victim’s head hit the concrete floor.
According to telegraph.com, the prosecutor recommended a sentence of 5 to 6 years, and the defense asked the judge to place Walsh on probation for 10 years, along with GPS monitoring. The sentence handed out was somewhere in the middle.
