4-to-10-year prison sentence for man convicted in vicious beating outside downtown bar
An Allenstown man was sentenced to 4-to-10-years in the New Hampshire State Prison for the beating of a 34-year-old man who had to have his jaw reconstructed after it was shattered in the attack.
MANCHESTER, NH – An Allenstown man was sentenced Thursday to 4-to-10-years in the New Hampshire State Prison for the beating of a 34-year-old man who had to have his jaw reconstructed after it was shattered in the attack.
In January, a Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District jury found Payson Tracy, 30, guilty of first-degree assault in the pummeling of Michael Feole on Sept. 9, 2023 in the rear of McGarvey’s Bar and Grill, 1097 Elm St.
Co-defendant Damon Carter, 34, of New Boston, also was charged with first-degree assault. He also was arrested for falsifying physical evidence. Jury selection in Carter’s case is set for May 5.
Judge David Anderson, prior to sentencing Tracy, told Feole that he knew what injuries he had suffered but did not know how severe they were until Thursday when Feole addressed the court.
According to court records, Feole suffered a shattered jaw, lost and broken teeth, and a lacerated spleen which was enlarged and bleeding when he was first treated by medical personnel.
Feole told the judge all of his teeth need to be replaced. His jaw was broken and now is misaligned. Trying to eat anything, he said, is a nightmare and he has difficulty swallowing.
A nerve in his jaw was severed, he said, resulting in his loss of feeling in his chin and the left side of his face/neck. He has talked with an oral surgeon about having a nerve graft but he does not know what that will cost.
So far, he said, his medical expenses total $140,000 and he owes $89,000. He has filed an application with the New Hampshire Victims Compensation Fund but does not know what, if anything, he will receive.
Anderson, in sentencing Tracy, ordered restitution, but capped it at $200,000. He said if Feole receives any money from the compensation fund, that amount will be deducted from the $200,000.
The sentence was a year less than the 5 to 10-year prison sentence recommended by Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Raiche.
Defense Attorney Jim Moir asked the judge to sentence Tracy to 1 ½ to 5 years. He said Tracy had no criminal record prior to the assault.
Family members and friends of Tracy also addressed the court, telling the judge that Tracy is a kind, empathetic person, had never been involved in violence and was no threat to society.
Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Raiche submitted video footage of the assault which the judge said he had viewed multiple times over the past 24 hours, including in slow motion. He said he counted 20 blows.
“This was a vicious assault,” the judge said.
According to the sworn affidavit of Detective William Dunn, the video footage recorded Tracy shoving Feole to the ground, standing over him and punching him repeatedly as a small crowd watches.
Tracy stopped punching Feole to assault another individual, according to Dunn. Feole was still on the ground and “seemingly unable to defend himself,” Dunn wrote. Tracy then began punching him again in the head and face. Tracy, Dunn wrote, “mounts M.F. and continues punching him. Tracy delivered about 20 punches to M.F. during the first incident. M.F. remained unresponsive on the ground after the assault until paramedics arrived.”
Tracy maintained he acted in self-defense but Anderson said the evidence does not support that.
According to court records, the assault happened at 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 9, 2023. Earlier that evening, Tracy and Feole had a confrontation inside the bar.
Feole told police he met his girlfriend there that night. When he entered the bar, he saw Tracy, an acquaintance, and shook hands with him. Later, at the bar, someone came up behind him and put him in a headlock and said, “stay away from my friend.” Feole said he managed to get out of the headlock and realized it was Tracy.
A bar employee told investigators she saw the two talking and then saw Feole head-butt Tracy. Both were escorted out of the bar.
Feole left and went to the Wild Rover for a while but later returned to the rear of McGarvey’s looking for his friend and Tracy. He had messaged Tracy that he wanted to meet up with him and buy him a drink. Tracy responded, “I’m right here Bubbah.”
Feole didn’t remember much from the assault. He told detectives Tracy was a trained fighter and he did not want any part of fighting him.
