Gazlay plea deal gains probation

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Monday, May 17, 2004 | 8:42 a.m.

A 19-year-old who police alleged was the leader of the 311 Boyz gang entered a plea agreement on Friday that will get him out of jail.

Steven Gazlay entered an Alford plea before District Judge Valerie Adair to felony battery and assault with deadly weapon charges on both an attack that left Stephen Tanner Hansen, 17, with a crushed face and the beating of Sean Quinn with a crowbar.

Under an Alford plea a defendant does not admit guilt but agrees the state could prove its case.

As part of the agreement two other cases against Gazlay were dismissed, and he will receive probation, with a suspended sentence of four to 20 years.

He was also facing charges of burning a teenager's ear with a hot butter knife during a party and of ramming a pickup truck into the gate of a condominium complex.

As part of the agreement Gazlay will be required to pay restitution to fix the gate.

Adair was supposed to sentence Gazlay for the crowbar attack, for which a jury found him guilty in December, but it was set aside under the terms of the plea agreement.

Under the agreement Adair released Gazlay with "reluctance" to house arrest. She made it clear that if he violated the strict orders surrounding his house arrest he would immediately be back in custody.

"You are to be home 24 hours a day," Adair said. "You are not to go to work, to hang out with friends or to pick up your child at day care. You are to have no contact with any of the 311 Boyz. The only exception is a medical emergency. If you leave, I will retract my order and demand you are back in custody."

Gazlay's attorney, Louis Palazzo, said his client was never a member of the 311 Boyz and looks forward to moving on with the rest of his life.

"He will move on in a positive way. He's a good kid," Palazzo said.

Hansen's attorney, Jerome Bowen, argued that Gazlay is anything but a good kid. Bowen said Hansen and his family were upset by the plea agreement.

"We are very disappointed that there was a stipulation to parole, especially with the Quinn matter," Bowen said. "He's (Gazlay) a convicted felon by a Nevada jury. This is a very serious crime, done by a person who has been violent on a repeat basis."

Bowen said the district attorney's office has been open to Hansen's and his feelings on the case, but apparently they share different views on the severity of the actions of the alleged 311 Boyz members.

"Gazlay is a perfect candidate for prison, but it looks like he will be handed the keys and will walk," Bowen said. "This is very hard for Tanner and the other boys to deal with."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent declined to comment on the plea agreement.

Gazlay joins fellow alleged 311 Boyz members Brandon Gallion, 16, Christopher Farley, 18, Jeff Hart, 17, and Matthew Costello, 18, in using an Alford plea on charges stemming from the Hansen attack.

The remaining alleged gang members facing charges are Scott Morse, 18, Anthony Gallion, 16, Dominic Harriman and Ernest Aguilar, 17.

Morse, Aguilar, Harriman and Anthony Gallion are set to go to trial on May 24.