Danny Rios' Killer Told 'Hell Awaits You' As 110-Year Sentence Ordered For Joliet Bartender's Death

JOLIET, IL — It took seven years and 11 months for the family and friends of Joliet bartender Danny Rios to obtain justice for the late-night assassination of the beloved Izzy's bartender, and at noon on Tuesday, Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius sentenced the masked gunman, Patrick Gleason, now 63 years old, to a grand total of 110 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The judge gave Gleason 45 years for his first-degree murder conviction, which he will serve at 100 percent. The judge gave him another 25 years for the gun enhancement crime. Gleason received another 20 years for the attempted murder of Izzy's bar patron Artis Henderson, plus 20 years for the aggravated battery causing severe bodily harm of bar owner's son Thomas Izquierdo, who was shot in the stomach and suffered potentially life-threatening injuries at the time.

"I am here hoping that we will get justice," Izquierdo told the judge during his victim impact statement. "You have disputed my life and taken away the life of Daniel Rios. I get emotional. You have left a lasting scar on me physically and scars are in me."

In March of 2018, Patrick Gleason returned to Izzy's Bar on Joliet's Theodore Street, wearing a black mask as he waited in the vestibule for several minutes armed with a Smith & Wesson handgun. He fatally shot bartender Danny Rios in the head and then chased after Henderson, one of the customers who tried hiding under a set of tables and chairs.

Less than an hour earlier, Gleason had been kicked out of Izzy's because he repeatedly refused to follow the law, as he continued to smoke cigarettes inside the bar, which is illegal.

Gleason tried shooting Henderson, but his shot missed by an inch. He then shot the bar owner's son as the patrons of the bar tried to subdue him and remove the gun from his hands.

At Tuesday's sentencing, Gleason made no statement. His lawyers, Jeff Tomczak and CJ Haney, argued during the trial that their client has no memory whatsoever of the shooting due to his level of intoxication on that night. Earlier that night, Gleason and his date attended the REO Speedwagon concert at Joliet's Rialto Square Theatre, and Gleason sneaked a bottle of Crown Royal to consume during the concert before driving to Izzy's to drink more alcohol after the show ended.

During Tuesday's sentencing, Laura Rios Alvarado, Danny's sister, walked to the front of the courtroom to read a victim impact statement. She talked about how Danny Rios brought life and laughter into every room he entered. She said her brother symbolized kindness and warmth.

"You are insignificant. You robbed Danny of the chance to meet his future grandchildren," she scolded Gleason. "You cannot measure up to Dan, who will always be our hero."

Alvarado talked about how that harrowing night in March of 2018 "changed everything."

"You fractured our lives, causing us to grapple with grief," she remarked. "Why did you hide behind a mask and a gun? Why isn't my brother here today?"

She wondered why Gleason, if he truly had a problem with her brother or other patrons at Izzy's, didn't just enter the bar and put up his fists and call for an old-fashioned fistfight to settle whatever dispute he had. Instead, he returned to the bar wearing his mask and carrying a gun.

"You just knew my brother Dan would have kicked your ass," she exclaimed.

As for Gleason's future at the Illinois Department of Corrections, Alvarado assured him that when he sits inside his cell, he will hear the constant echoes of other cellblocks slamming shut.

"You will forever be known as a murderer," she declared. "You are a coward. While Daniel the third will be known as a hero. You had no mercy on Daniel's life. He was only 52 years old. You sit here like a coward."

Then Alvarado made a statement, and everyone in the courtroom seated with the Rios family stood up and responded back.

"Rios Power!" she yelled.

"Rios Strong!" the group of 15 mourners stood up and repeated, many of them wearing black T-shirts that read Rios Strong in white letters.

"Shame on you! Hell awaits for you," Rios' sister assured Gleason. "And you cannot even face us. Look behind you, you have no one here."