After accepting a plea deal to avoid the death penalty for a second time, Lance Broncho was sentenced to life in prison Monday afternoon, with 35 years before he’s eligible for parole after a failed robbery resulted in the death of 51-year-old Erick Leask and the injury of another resident.
By accepting a plea agreement, Broncho, a 23-year-old living in Shelley, pleaded guilty to felony first-degree murder and felony aggravated battery. The agreement dismissed the following charges: felony robbery, felony burglary, and felony unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The family of Leask was in the courtroom during the sentencing. The wife of Leask gave an impact statement that detailed her and her son’s lives since the night of March 9. A member of the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office read the impact statement.
“We lost our home that night of the incident. We didn’t want to go back there, for fear of someone coming after us, as well as we both lost someone very precious to us in a violent way,” according to the statement.
Leask’s wife said that for two months after the incident, she and her son lived in Airbnbs and moved every couple of weeks before it was warm enough to live in their motor home.
She stated that during that time, the pair lived in fear of someone coming after them, and that her son, who Broncho shot twice, slept with a shotgun every night.
The statement said the son had received two emergency surgeries, one on his ring finger and one on his leg. This resulted in the amputation of the tip of his ring finger and loss of movement in his middle finger.
Complications occurred when the nail bed began to grow back, infecting the son’s finger.
After the incident on March 9, the wife wrote that her son had to go to the trauma center three times a week, needed 67 medications and had to be on a strict schedule. During this time, she was not able to work, meaning she lost her wages.
“Everything felt so traumatic. I felt like my life was just unraveling at the seams, and I have no control over the outcome,” according to the victim’s statement.
The wife stated that since that night, she’s been seeing a therapist and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, causing her to forget things quicker and become depressed.
“Some days I think it would have been easier if I didn’t make it that night. Life is so much harder now,” the impact statement stated. “I’m not suicidal. I would never do something like that. I’m just making a point about on how hard life has been without Eric. We were a team, my love and my best friend. We really enjoyed being together. Even after 22 years, we were still excited to spend time with each other.”
As the impact statement was being read out loud, Broncho kept staring at the table in front of him.
His attorney, James Archibald, told the court that the goal of the court and sentencing is to deter people from this behavior and how we can rehabilitate defendants and protect society. During a status conference on Aug. 13, Broncho’s attorneys requested a sentence of 25 years, with the sentence being able to fulfill this goal.
“It’s clear from the records, both the pre-sentence investigation report and the psychological assessment, that my client has had a tough life. He’s had a rough life,” Archibald said.
Archibald went on to state that Broncho’s juvenile record started before he even became a teenager, with him being first incarcerated at the age of 13. “Those juvenile records demonstrate child in crisis, and the system did attempt to do what they could for him.”
Archibald said that Broncho’s mental health history and his substance abuse of marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamine and opiates were ways he tried to find relief. He said that the more substances Broncho was under caused him to become more irresponsible and believed that the murder would not have happened “for him being under the influence, probably all four of those substances on the night in question.”
The goal of the 25-year sentence before he’s eligible for parole would allow him to demonstrate his maturity, reliability, insight and commitment to a pro-social lifestyle. After 25 years, a report will be conducted in which, if Broncho has been a problem, the parole commission can keep him in jail.
“It gives my client incentive to do as much as he can, as many good things as possible in prison,” Archibald said. “If this court gives a fixed life sentence, he has no motivation to do what’s right in prison, no motivation to help other inmates, no motivation to help himself.”
Neal painted a different picture of Broncho and why a 35-year fixed sentence was more of an option. Neal said the goal of the sentencing is not about what the parole commission will do in 25 years, but how the court can protect families in Bonneville County that are here right now and those in the future.
“That’s the kind of gravity we have when it comes to sentencing of somebody who’s as dangerous as Lance Broncho,” Neal said. “I’m not sure in 42 years I encountered someone as dangerous.”
Neal spoke more about Broncho’s past, saying that prior to the shooting of Leask, Broncho was on federal probation for an incident in April 2020, when Broncho was 20. Broncho had stabbed a man, resulting in serious injuries and was charged with felony assault.
Neal said when Broncho entered the house on March 9, and was confronted by Leask and the son, Broncho was put to the test. He did not decide to back down but to start shooting.
Referring to a level of service inventory, which Neal said determines an inmate’s potential for recidivism, the highest possible score is 54, which means a high potential for recidivism; Broncho scored 42.
Neal said Broncho has been in the juvenile system since the age of 10 with aggravated battery, violations of his probation and, just after becoming an adult, getting sentenced to federal prison for a stabbing.
Neal read from a report from when Broncho was in the federal prison system of an incident where Broncho assaulted an inmate with a sock that had a lock in it.
“He was initially placed on medium security Federal Correctional Institution, but admitted that he was sent with a mission,” Neal said.
Neal said that Broncho was moved to an increased security at the prison. Reading from his pre-sentence investigation, Broncho claimed that he is a soldier in the Gangster Disciples, a prison gang, as Neal described.
Neal said that after Broncho’s arrest on March 9, he started causing problems in the jail. On March 14, Broncho was charged with two felony counts of major contraband.
Broncho also received more charges in two other incidents while he was in jail on May 9 and July 6. These three incidents resulted in Broncho losing his first plea deal.
Neal read another report that Broncho has continued to display violence with the absence of remorse or victim empathy during his current incarceration.
“Should he be released to the community at some future point, there is no reasonable expectation that he will demonstrate a reduction in risk for continued violence,” Neal said.
Again, Neal said his goal is not focused on the parole board in the future but on how to protect the community today.
A five-minute recess was called to allow District Judge Michael Whyte to view video calls of Broncho. Neal said that many of the police reports provided to the court contained snippets of Broncho’s phone calls to third parties.
In one call, Broncho told friends that Leask was a family friend. He said, “Ohh, then you know what? Guess, guess who I killed? A family friend of mine,” Broncho said in the video call.
During the preliminary hearing, Neal said that one piece of evidence presented was that four individuals were in a vehicle together parked a block away. He said Broncho left alone and came back injured.
“During that preliminary hearing, both victims testify that they recognized certain distinctive features about the one individual who came in and was responsible for the shooting,” Neal said.
Before he was sentenced, Broncho was given an opportunity to make a statement. Broncho said that he accepts responsibility for everything that happened.
Whyte said that even though Broncho is only 23 years old, the brain doesn’t fully develop until you are 25, meaning that younger people have to work even harder.
“You didn’t take advantage of some opportunities that you have on incarcerated before. You have an LSI score of 42 ... you’re sitting with a very high number. I don’t think that’s a surprise to you, given your brief life,” Whyte said.
Whyte said that while Broncho told him that he takes responsibility and in the pre-sentence investigation, he noted that he took responsibility, he did it in a roundabout way.
Whyte said that Broncho reported that it was he and another individual who entered the house. The other individual was the one who pulled the gun, and it was he who provided that person with the gun.
Whyte said Broncho’s version of the event is the only one to have another individual with him when he broke into the house.
“Neither of the victims indicated there was another individual. The other individuals with whom you were with that night all indicated you entered this building alone. While you take some responsibility for your involvement, it is a measured responsibility. You seem to be still promoting a story that I find incredible that there was another individual involved,” Whyte said.
Whyte said the reports indicate that Broncho is unwilling to commit to change and that the patterns of violence will remain the same as they were in the past. “The outlook for you, Mr. Broncho is not very good, as we sit here today, and I must focus on what I have today.”
“As you stand before me, you are violent and dangerous, just given your own history, the best way to protect society is incarceration,” Whyte said.
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