Four years possible for benevolent brother

PALMER — A man who tried to take the rap for his brother after shots were fired at Tailgaters’ Bar in April will receive a sentence of up to four years in prison.

Donald Lee, 22, wearing a suit and tie, said little to the judge as he entered no-contest pleas to the two charges he faces in the case. Superior Court Judge Vanessa White told him that hindering prosecution and failure to stop for a police officer each carry a maximum prison term of two years.

When Lee was initially arrested April 7, police charged him with the shooting, saying he’d admitted to firing the gun at a group of customers as they left the bar that night. No one was hurt. The targets of the shots ducked behind a van in the parking lot. Police said the incident began with an argument in the bar.

Lee and his brother, Duane R. Aylsworth, 34, of Wasilla, led police on a pursuit through Wasilla after the shooting. At the end of the chase Lee confessed. Wasilla police say witnesses contradicted Lee’s story and eventually most of the charges against Lee were dropped and leveled instead against Aylsworth.

Since the shooting, Lee decided without bargaining with prosecutors to accept conviction on his two remaining counts. Since he didn’t reach an agreement with prosecutors, White can decide on any sentence between zero and four years.

Monday, Lee’s attorney, Elizabeth Varela, said she was ready to have White impose a sentence, that her client was youthful and lacked any significant criminal history in his brief time as an adult.

But Assistant District Attorney Paul Roetman objected, asking instead that the state’s probation office be tasked with drafting a pre-sentence report. Varela argued that such reports aren’t often necessary in dealing with class-C felonies. Roetman disagreed, saying he just doesn’t know enough about Lee to go forward.

“He was born in Anchorage, but we don’t know much of anything besides that,” Roetman said.

Questions he’d like answered, he said, are whether Lee has any criminal history as a juvenile, whether he has any problems with controlled substances and, most importantly, what drove him to try and take the rap.

“What is going on?” Roetman asked, in summary.

White eventually agreed with Roetman.

“I really think a PSR could help the defendant more than hurt him,” she told Varela.

The judge set a hearing for Lee on Oct. 14 at 8:30 a.m., and tasked the probations office with completing its report by Sept. 14.

As for Aylsworth, his trial on charges of attempted murder, assault, criminal mischief and weapons misconduct is scheduled for Aug. 24, also before White. If convicted on every count, he could be sentenced to more than 99 years in prison.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.