VANCOUVER — A former Victoria Salmon King hung his head Monday in provincial court in Vancouver, when a judge advised him not to disappoint the stepdaughter looking up to him as he tries to rebuild a life once full of promise.
Brady Ron Leavold, a 28-year-old Port Coquitlam native who played in pro and junior hockey leagues around North America, was sentenced Monday to 21 months in jail, minus time served, after pleading guilty to a robbery charge and 10 lesser counts, including theft and resisting a peace officer.
He has been in custody since November.
The crimes were committed, court heard Monday, while Leavold struggled with an addiction that started with prescription painkillers for a hockey injury, curtailed his hockey career and escalated into heroin dependency and a string of “unsophisticated heists.”
The defence lawyer’s submissions included a letter written three weeks ago by Leavold’s 10-year-old stepdaughter for a school project about heroes.
Judge Gregory Rideout silently read the letter in court and said to Leavold: “Your stepdaughter’s letter is powerful. You know that you’ve got someone out there who considers you a hero. So don’t let her down. OK?”
Given the chance to address Rideout, Leavold said: “I just want to apologize to you, to the community, to my parents. I’m just looking forward to starting my life over again.”
The most serious charge involved Leavold robbing a taxi driver at knifepoint in Port Coquitlam in 2013, Crown counsel Jonas Dow said.
More recently, court heard, Leavold committed a series of thefts last fall at Vancouver-area liquor stores.
The crimes were “unsophisticated heists,” Rideout said.
“You were bound to be caught, of course. Maybe you knew it, maybe it was a form of reaching out.”
From 2003 to 2012, Leavold’s hockey career spanned six leagues, including the American Hockey League and the ECHL. The right winger played 31 games for the ECHL’s Salmon Kings during the 2008-09 season, scoring 10 goals.
In 2008, Leavold signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s AHL affiliate and attended a prospects camp for the Florida-based NHL team.
The former Kelowna Rocket junior’s career trajectory changed with a knee injury during the 2008-09 season.
After damaging his anterior cruciate ligament, Leavold was prescribed the painkiller OxyContin, defence lawyer Kristy Neurauter told court Monday.
After about two years of OxyContin use, he “escalated to heroin use, and has been struggling with an addiction to heroin ever since that time,” she said.
“This is his first time in custody, and he thinks he’s hit rock bottom. I would tend to agree. It’s been a real wake-up call for him, he says; he’s more motivated than ever to address his addiction,” she said.
Leavold’s parents attended the sentencing. Afterward, his father, Brian Leavold, said he believed Brady could still be playing high-level hockey if it weren’t for his struggles with substance abuse.
“There’s guys that he played with and played against that are still making good money playing at their age, so had he stayed clean, he probably would have,” he said.
Brian Leavold said he hoped his son could use the coming months in jail to get clean and rehabilitate himself, adding: “As long as he can stay away from the drugs, he’d be a great guy.”
