Taunton career criminal sent back to jail in Fall River court

A 45-year-old career criminal from Taunton who threatened a pizza delivery driver with a knife and vandalized his vehicle was sentenced to serve two-and-a-half years in the house of corrections late last week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Leonard Vargus pleaded guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle.

On July 1, 2018, the defendant, without provocation, decided to slash the tires of a Dominos delivery driver. After slashing the tires, the defendant climbed up on the vehicle and held a knife to the victim’s head through the vehicle’s sunroof. The victim later told police he was in fear for his life. Police were notified and the defendant was located nearby holding the knife. While being taken into custody, the defendant yelled, “I don’t stab tire. I stab people. Check my record.”

The defendant’s criminal record is replete with convictions for assault-type behavior and includes a lengthy federal prison sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.

The jail sentence was imposed by Judge Gregg Pasquale and the case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Sheehan, who had argued for a more severe three to five year state prison term.

“The defendant is a career criminal who should have received a longer state prison sentence. He has a history of violence and also has completed a substantial federal sentence for selling drugs and laundering money,” District Attorney Quinn said. “This is a pointless act of violence perpetrated against an innocent person who was just trying to make a living. The defendant is not someone who can be rehabilitated.”